Malambo (dance)

Malambo is an Argentine folk dance associated with gauchos. It is traditionally a dance performed by two men, taking turns and competing against one another. Its notable elements are elaborate leg movements with energetic zapateados (stomping) and cepillados ("brushing"/"scrubbing").

Malambo has no formal choreography. In the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, Volume 67, C.J. Videla-Rivero described it as follows: "The malambo is exclusively a masculine dance. One gaucho taps, kicks, crosses his legs, pounds the earth with the side of his feet, make his spurs tinkle, and fills the air with a thousand and one different figures while his opponent, crouched, watches him."

While malambo originated as a competition between two gauchos, it may be performed in several ways: solo, in groups (synchronized or individual choreographies), counterpoint vis a vis, counterpoint quartets.

Malambo was popularized in Argentina at the beginning of the 19th century. The two main styles of malambo are the “estilo sureño” ("Southern style") and the “estilo norteño” ("Northern style"). The “estilo norteño” tends to have a faster rhythm than that of the South, and use a unique guitar strum.

The first musical version of malambo was published by Ventura Lynch in 1883.

The Festival Nacional del Malambo ("National Malambo Festival"), a major malambo performance and competition event, has been held annually in Laborde, Córdoba since 1966. Malambo also features prominently at the annual Cosquín Folk Festival, also in Cordoba.

Malevo, an Argentine dance troupe, made it to the semifinals of America's Got Talent in 2016. In June of 2024, Argentinian malambo troupe Legión received the "Golden Buzzer" for their AGT audition. In 2018, the first Campeonato nacional de malambo femenino ("National Women's Malambo Championship") was organized in Carlos Paz, Cordoba.