Dance fervor

New Yorker’s Goings On About Town** led me to check out this troupe. Their style is a mucho macho tango and completely mesmerizing. Watching their performance led directly to another interesting find, Malevo Malambo, and from there onto Picahueso Malambo and then an all women’s troupe called Revolution Queens. Like the men from Che Malambo, Malevo Malambo are energetic, aggressive and graceful. The women of Revolution Queens exhibit similarly fierce showmanship.

Malambo, as it turns out, is an Argentine folk style that features footwork called zapeteo. The Malevo group has gone on America’s Got Talent (NBC) in an attempt to popularize this dance form which at home is seen in competitions, and not in theaters. The ladies of Revolution Queens have also been on the TV show. They came out brandishing drums and banging their feet with all the force of the all-male proponents of this genre.

Like the Irish percussive stomp dancers, these Malamboistas present more spectacle than dance performance. Can the French choreographer Gilles Brinas turn his Che Malambo company into a destination for dance fans? Malevo was created by choreographer and dancer Matías Jaime, a native Argentine, in 2015. His troupe appeared at last season’s Fall For Dance at New York City Center. Che Malambo performed at the Joyce this past February.

Seems like mainstream dance fandom, along with the folkloric crowd, is not far behind. Especially if the women of malambo continue to sing to the tune of “Anything you can do….”

**Note, I am always several weeks behind in my New Yorker reading, which is devoted and involves going cover to cover.