Malambo (dance)

Last updated
Malambo solo The Chakaymanta Dance School (7).jpg
Malambo solo
Dance performance involving a group malambo The Chakaymanta Dance School (4).jpg
Dance performance involving a group malambo
An unusual type of zapateado by the side of the boot, characteristic of malambo Malambo solista.jpg
An unusual type of zapateado by the side of the boot, characteristic of malambo

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. [1] Its notable elements are elaborate leg movements with energetic zapateado s (stomping) and cepillados ("brushing"/"scrubbing"). [2]

Contents

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." [3]

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.[ citation needed ]

Malambo was popularized in Argentina at the beginning of the 19th century.[ citation needed ] 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. [4]

The first musical version of malambo was published by Ventura Lynch in 1883. [5]

The Festival Nacional del Malambo ("National Malambo Festival"), a major malambo performance and competition event, has been held annually in Laborde, Córdoba since 1966. [6] [7] Malambo also features prominently at the annual Cosquín Folk Festival, also in Cordoba. [8]

Malevo, an Argentine dance troupe, made it to the semifinals of America's Got Talent in 2016. [9] In June of 2024, Argentinian malambo troupe Legión received the "Golden Buzzer" for their AGT audition. [10] In 2018, the first Campeonato nacional de malambo femenino ("National Women's Malambo Championship") was organized in Carlos Paz, Cordoba. [1]

National Malambo Festival (Festival Nacional del Malambo)

The National Malambo Festival has been held in Laborde, a small town in the province of Córdoba, since its first edition in 1966. The festival is held annually in the second half of January and it lasts six nights. Its objective is to promote and revalue national culture with a focus on dance, music, and tradition. It also aims at strengthening social bonds between participants from different provinces and countries. In this festival, a competition is held and there are different categories in which participants can compete. [11]

The festival was created by “Amigos del Arte” and was held for the first time in a local club in 1966. In 1974, the planning committee made up of neighbors, purchased the thousand square metered venue of the former Spanish Society and built a stage because of the event's rapid growth. [11]

Since 1974, the festival has been held uninterrupted until the present, except for in 2021 when it was suspended because of the global pandemic. [11]

Since 2004, the 23 Argentinian provinces have participated in the festival. During the week of the festival, different activities take place which are aimed at spreading knowledge on the traditions of each of the provinces. Among the activities, there are workshops, conferences, peñas, and craft fairs. [12]

Besides the Malambo dance competition, which is the main event, every year the “Paisana Nacional del Malambo” is crowned. The contestants parade in their traditional outfits and must show their dancing abilities and be interviewed by the judges. The winner is given a band and performs a choreographed dance with the male champion. [13]

Since its emergence in the seventeenth century, the dance and its traditions have evolved significantly. In the beginning, Malambo was originally performed by only two men, in a more subtle and elegant way. Nowadays, however, it can be performed as a group and also by women, and may include more aggressive moves and accessories, like “boleadoras” or even fire. [14] [15] [16]

A Malambo group called “Malevo” became famous world-wide after their participation in  “America’s Got Talent” in 2016. [17] They toured all around the globe, bringing this important part of Argentine folklore culture closer to the rest of the world. [18] They even performed in Las Vegas for a sold-out Cirque du Soleil show, to raise funds for critical water issues. [19] More recently, a group named “Legión” participated in the 2024 edition of “America’s Got Talent”, performing the dance with their boots set on fire, amazing the judges and the public. [14]

Even though women have presumably been dancing Malambo for a long time, their presence in this art has been strongly invisibilized until 2018, when the first National Female Malambo Championship (Campeonato Nacional de Malambo Femenino) was held in the city of Carlos Paz, Córdoba. [20] The organizer, Ivana Carrazco, was once approached by a lady that said to have won a Malambo competition in 1950, which proves that women have been practicing this dance since last century, if not for longer. Carrazco and Jose Luis Baez, the president of the Championship, came up with the idea of holding the event to give women a place to compete in all the categories, since the National Festival in Laborde is only for men. Despite the separation usually made between female and male Malambo, many dancers deny there exists any technical difference in the performance of the discipline. [21]

Malambo dancing is the main subject in a number of books and films.

In Literature

The book “A Simple Story: The Last Malambo” (“Una historia sencilla”, 2013) by journalist and writer Leila Guerriero chronicles the experiences of a contestant in the National Malambo Festival during its 2012 edition. [11]

In Film

The 2020 coming-of-age drama film Karnawal, written and directed by Juan Pablo Félix, tells the story of Cabra, a teenager who dreams of becoming a professional malambo dancer. [22] The leading actor, Martín López Lacci, was discovered by the casting team while he performed in the National Malambo Festival in Laborde. [23]

The 2018 drama film “Malambo: El hombre bueno”, directed by Santiago Loza, revolves around the relationship between a malambo dancer and his mentor, as the protagonist trains in order to return to the National Malambo Festival’s competition after sustaining a back injury. [24] [25]

Documentaries

“Guerrero de norte y sur”, a 2019 documentary film directed by Mauricio Halek, depicts the day-to-day life of Facundo Arteaga, a solo malambo dancer, as he tries his luck at the national competition one last time. [26] The film focuses on the solitary nature of the solo dancer “reinforcing the prototypical image of the gaucho from the Pampas Plain in its desolate immensity.” [27]

The documentary film “Origen, el malambo y la mujer” (2021), directed by Sergio Magallanes, revolves around female malambo dancers and the National Women’s Malambo Championship (Campeonato Nacional de Malambo Femenino), which takes place in Villa Carlos Paz, Córdoba since 2018. The film includes the testimonies of José Luis Báez and Ivana Carrasco, the creators of the competition. [21]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of Argentina</span>

The music of Argentina includes a variety of traditional, classical, and popular genres. According to the Harvard Dictionary of Music, Argentina also "has one of the richest art music traditions and perhaps the most active contemporary musical life."

Jesús María is a city in the province of Córdoba, Argentina, located 49 km due north from the provincial capital Córdoba, on National Route 9, within the valley of the Sierras Chicas. It has about 27,000 inhabitants as per the 2001 census [INDEC].

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chilean rodeo</span>

Rodeo is a traditional equestrian sport in Chile, declared the national sport in 1962.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cosquín Rock</span> Annual Argentine music festival

Cosquín Rock is an Argentine music festival, held annually since 2001. It is currently held in Santa María de Punilla, Córdoba. In Argentina, it takes place in February during the summer, and it is one of the most popular music festivals in the country. Many important national rock singers and groups participate in the festival, along with some of the most important international rock bands, mostly from Spanish-speaking countries like Spain, Mexico, and Uruguay. In the beginning, it was focused only on national rock bands. However, throughout the years, the festival has also included bands from different places and of different genres, such as reggae, rap, cumbia, and cuarteto, among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amelia Bence</span> Argentine actress (1914–2016)

Amelia Bence was an Argentine film actress and one of the divas of the Golden Age of Argentine Cinema (1940–1960).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delia Garcés</span> Argentine actress (1919–2001)

Delia Amadora García Gerboles better known as Delia Garcés was an Argentine film actress of the Golden Age of Argentine Cinema (1940–1960). She made almost 30 appearances in film between 1937 and 1959 and acted on stage from 1936 to 1966. She won the Premios Sur Best Actress award three times from the Argentine Academy of Cinematography Arts and Sciences, as well as the Argentine Film Critics Association's Silver Condor Award for Best Actress, the Premios Leopold Torre Nilsson, Premio Pablo Podestá, and the inaugural ACE Platinum Lifetime Achievement Award from the Asociación de Cronistas del Espectáculo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucas Demare</span> Argentine film director, screenwriter and film producer

Lucas Demare was an Argentine film director, screenwriter, and film producer prominent in the Cinema of Argentina in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Argentina–Spain relations</span> Bilateral relations

Argentina–Spain relations are the bilateral relations between the Argentine Republic and the Kingdom of Spain. Since a great portion of the immigrants to Argentina before the mid-19th century were of Spanish descent, the large majority of Argentines are at least partly of Spanish ancestry. Also, a significant part of the late-19th century/early-20th century immigrants to Argentina were Spaniards. Both nations are members of the Organization of Ibero-American States and the United Nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jineteada gaucha</span> Traditional sport of Argentina and the Cono Sur

Jineteada gaucha or doma gaucha is a traditional sport in the gaucho culture of Argentina and the Cono Sur – Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile and the Rio Grande do Sul of Brazil. The objective is for the rider to stay on an untamed horse for a number of seconds. The specified time varies from 8 to 14 seconds, depending on the category. In Uruguay a law was enacted in 2006 establishing it as the national sport. In Argentina it may be considered a part of the national intangible cultural heritage.

The Campeonato Nacional de Fútbol Femenino is the highest league of women's football in Nicaragua. Established in 1996, it is run by FENIFUT.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santiago Loza</span> Argentine film director (born 1971)

Santiago Loza is an Argentine film director and writer. He studied at Universidad Nacional Film School, Instituto Nacional de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales (INCAA)´s Escuela Nacional de Experimentación y Realización Cinematográfica (ENERC), and Escuela Municipal de Artes Dramáticas. In 1998, he directed the short film Lara y Los Trenes. In 2003, his first feature film, Extraño, was an Official Selection of the Rotterdam Film Festival, where it won the Tiger Award for best film. In 2008 he directed the films Artico and Rosa Patria. In 2009, his film La Invencion de la Carne was an Official Selection of the Locarno Film Festival. That same year he co-founded the Elefante Theater Club, and continues to write plays and direct films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teresa Parodi</span> Argentine singer and songwriter

Teresa Adelina Sellarés, best known as Teresa Parodi, is an Argentine singer and songwriter. She held the inaugural post of Minister of Culture of Argentina from May 6, 2014, to December 9, 2015. She was a deputy to the Mercosur Parliament (Parlasur) representing the nationwide district of Argentina from December 10, 2015, to October 6, 2016. She was elected on the Front for Victory ticket in the 2015 election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Javier Latorre</span> Spanish dancer and choreographer

Javier Antonio García Expósito is a dancer and choreographer. He debuted at the age of sixteen in the National Lyric Company. In 1979, he joined the Ballet Nacional de España, as soloist under the direction of Antonio Gades. After receiving an award as the Festival d'Avignon, he founded in 1988 in Cordoba the Ziryab Danza of which he was director, choreographer and dancer. He had considerable success with the show Hijas del Alba. A year later, he received three national awards at the Concurso Nacional de Arte Flamenco. In 1990, he toured with the show La fuerza del destinoall over Europe, and participated as a guest artist with Mario Maya in Diálogos del Amargo. He collaborated on Concierto flamenco para un marinero en tierra with Vicente Amigo before winning the first prize in dance at the Festival del Cante de las Minas in 1994.

Hugo Mac Dougall, born Hugo Mascías was an Argentine writer, screenwriter, and journalist. At the 1943 Argentine Film Critics Association Awards, Mac Dougall won the Silver Condor Award for Best Original Screenplay for his work Malambo (1942). He won it again the following year for his script co-written with Rodolfo González Pacheco and Eliseo Montaine for Three Men of the River (1943).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cumbia (Colombia)</span> Regional music and dance style

Cumbia is a folkloric genre and dance from Colombia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabriela Samper</span> Colombian filmmaker

Gabriela Samper was a Colombian teacher, puppet theater creator and documentary filmmaker. The first woman to participate in documentary filmmaking, she is remembered for her ethnographic short films which explored the diversity of Colombian culture. Winning numerous awards, her work is part of the collection of the Latin American Film Archive at the MOMA in Manhattan.

<i>Malambo, the Good Man</i> 2018 Argentine drama film

Malambo, the Good Man is a 2018 Argentine black-and-white drama film directed by Santiago Loza. It was screened in the Panorama section at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disciplina Tour</span> 2022–23 concert tour by Lali

The Disciplina Tour was the fifth concert tour by Argentine singer Lali. The tour saw multiple songs performed for the first time live, including those from her fourth studio album, Libra (2020) and songs belonging to her fifth studio album, Lali (2023), such as "Disciplina", "Diva" and "N5". It began on 23 June 2022 and it travelled across Latin America, Europe and Asia, concluding on 8 April 2023.

Estancia is the second ballet composed by Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera premiered in 1952 commissioned by American writer Lincoln Kirstein. Ginastera took inspiration for the ballet's plot from the epic Martin Fierro by Argentine writer José Hernández, incorporating the nationalist themes and language into his musical score. The ballet was created the same year the composer had made his acquaintance with American composer Aaron Copland. The ballet began its life as a four-part orchestral suite in 1941 before being turned in a one-act ballet.

<i>Karnawal</i> (film) 2020 Argentine film

Karnawal is a 2020 coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Juan Pablo Félix in his directorial debut. It stars Alfredo Castro, Martín López Lacci, Mónica Lairana and Diego Cremonesi. It tells the story of a teenager who is reunited with his father and together they embark on a journey, where truths that they would prefer not to know come to light and they find themselves involved in critical situations. It is a co-production between Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Norway.

References

  1. 1 2 Falcoff, Laura (2023-03-03). "Explosión malambo: el zapateo argentino se reinventa y conquista al mundo". Clarín (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-02-25.
  2. ↑ Eduardo Gutierrez , The Gaucho Juan Moreira, 2014, ISBN   1624661386, p. XV
  3. ↑ C.J. Videla-Rivero, "Few Words on Argentine Music", Bulletin of the Pan American Union, 1933, pp. 796-797 (free access)
  4. ↑ "Malambo femenino: vestimenta y evolución | GINOBOGANI". ginobogani.com.ar (in Spanish). 2015-12-10. Retrieved 2024-02-25.
  5. ↑ "Biografia_de_Jorge_M._Furt". www2.mshs.univ-poitiers.fr. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  6. ↑ Leila Guerriero, A Simple Story: The Last Malambo , 2015, 2017 (book review; doi : 10.1353/abr.2017.0088)
  7. ↑ Kenneth Dickerman, Mario de Fina, "In a small town in Argentina, gauchos compete for a coveted crown more than a half-century-old", The Washington Post , May 8, 2019
  8. ↑ ""El capataz" le dio a la sede Resistencia un nuevo ganador en el pre Cosquín". Chaco Día por Día (in Spanish). 19 January 2023. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  9. ↑ Benton, Hayley (24 February 2023). "Malevo: brings high-energy renegade dance to Wortham stage". Asheville Citizen-Times . p. T6.
  10. ↑ Faulkner, Clara (11 June 2024). "This Dance Group's Feet Were Literally on Fire During a One-of-a-Kind Act". NBC News .
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Una historia sencilla - Guerriero, Leila - 978-84-339-9767-8". Editorial Anagrama. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
  12. ↑ "Festival Nacional del Malambo - Laborde - Córdoba". Festival Nacional del Malambo - Laborde - Córdoba (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-09-09.
  13. ↑ "Laborde, el pueblo cordobés que se transforma con su festival de malambo hace 51 años". LA NACION (in Spanish). 2018-01-06. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
  14. 1 2 "Legion, la compañía de baile de Malambo que conquistó "America´s Got Talent"". El1 (in Spanish). 2024-06-21. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
  15. ↑ "Malambo y mujeres: meterse en el baile". ANUNM (in Spanish). 2023-10-12. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
  16. ↑ Canela; Duhalde, Juan Manuel; Kupchik, Christian, eds. (2018). Identidad y folklore. Argentina (Primera edición ed.). Buenos Aires: Laboratorios Bagó. ISBN   978-987-98983-7-6.
  17. ↑ Malevo Official (2018-04-02). MALEVO - GOLDEN BUZZER AGT 2016 . Retrieved 2024-09-09– via YouTube.
  18. ↑ "Malambo: Argentine dance from the pampas goes global | Buenos Aires Times". www.batimes.com.ar. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
  19. ↑ "Malevo causó sensación en Las Vegas con su participación en "One Night for One Drop" del Cirque du Soleil". Sentí Argentina. 2017-03-12. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  20. ↑ Falcoff, Laura (2021-07-03). "Mujeres que zapatean: el malambo no es sólo cosa de hombres". Clarín (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-09-09.
  21. 1 2 Pasion Por El Malambo (2021-06-06). Origen "El Malambo y La Mujer" Documental Completo . Retrieved 2024-09-09– via YouTube.
  22. ↑ Brodersen, Diego (2021-09-22). ""Karnawal": drama familiar con dosis de contenido social | Ópera prima del bonaerense Juan Pablo Félix". PAGINA12 (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-09-09.
  23. ↑ "Estrena "Karnawal": un relato sobre la adolescencia y el baile | Cine". La Voz del Interior (in Spanish). 2021-09-21. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
  24. ↑ "Críticas: Crítica de "Malambo: El hombre bueno" + Entrevista al director Santiago Loza - Otros Cines". www.otroscines.com. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
  25. ↑ Boetti, Ezequiel (2018-05-03). "El movimiento que le gana a la palabra | Malambo, el hombre bueno, escrita y dirigida por Santiago Loza, en la Sala Lugones". PAGINA12 (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-09-09.
  26. ↑ sebafanboy. "Un "Guerrero de Norte y Sur" del malambo – ShowMardel" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-09-09.
  27. ↑ Prieto, Paula Vazquez (2019-03-12). "Guerrero De Norte Y Sur". HLC - Hacerse la crítica (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-09-09.

    Commons-logo.svg Media related to Malambo (dance) at Wikimedia Commons

    This page is based on this Wikipedia article
    Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
    Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.