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 zapateados (stomping) and cepillados ("brushing"/"scrubbing").^[2]

Malabo 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 2018, the first Campeonato nacional de malambo femenino ("National Women's Malambo Championship") was organized in Carlos Paz, Cordoba.^[1]