Malambo (dance)

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

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.

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.

During the week of the festival, different activities take place which are aimed at spreading knowledge on the traditions of each of the provinces.

[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.

[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.

[22] The leading actor, Martín López Lacci, was discovered by the casting team while he performed in the National Malambo Festival in Laborde.