Friend missing in tea dance (3-3)

I believe the answer is:

cha-cha

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'dance' is the definition.
(I know that cha cha is a type of dance)

I cannot understand how the remainder of the clue works.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for cha-cha that I've seen before include "Modern ballroom dance from Latin America" , "Latin American ballroom dance" , "certain steps" , "Latin-American dance" , "Repetitive Latin American dance" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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