Cuban music and dance were quite popular in the United States. "With the arrival of Afro-Cuban popular music in the United States during the early twentieth century, there began a mutual borrowing of musical ideas and inspiration between Cuba and the United States. As Latin rhythms continued to impress musicians and dancers during the 1930s and 1940s, American jazz made inroads in Cuba. Eventually, large ensembles like the gran orquesta began to resemble American big bands, not only in their instrumentation, but in the style of their arrangements as well. Throughout the 1950s, dance centers in Havana and New York City featured the big bands of Beny Moré and Machito and his Afro-Cubans, whose repertoire included the son, cha cha chá, and mambo." George Torres, Grinnell College.