Malevo, which had a short season at the State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne, lived up to its claim to be an “electrifying dance spectacular” with the all-male troupe of Argentinian dancers, drummers and musicians receiving a standing ovation on opening night.
Based on the malambo, an Argentinian folk dance traditionally performed by gauchos of the Pampas region, director choreographer and dancer Matias Jaime has modernized the traditional form in an inspired and intoxicating fashion.
From the very opening percussion piece using drums only to the final rousing dance sequence showcasing the whole ensemble, the audience was taken on an exhilarating rollercoaster of a ride.
Malevo was not purely malambo in style as elements of flamenco and urban beats and movements were also incorporated into an evening consisting of a number of set pieces showcasing, in turn, individual dancers, groups of dancers or the band of musicians. Some of the show’s most spine-tingling moments came when dancers performed with spinning boleadoras, a leather and stone gaucho hunting tool.
First spun by a solitary individual, then in a duet with a second dancer, then slowly building into small groups of dancers doing coro-pregon (call-and-response) pieces, the audience was mesmerized by the ensemble’s breathtaking display of virtuosity in terms of skills and timing.
At other times zapateados (stomping) and cepaillados (brushing or scrubbing) movements were done with great alacrity and zest, all accompanied by guttural cries of passion.
Nevertheless, there were moments in certain set pieces which bordered on caricature, when the stylized movements and macho posturing threatened to spill Malevo over into a South American pastiche of Riverdance or of a Jets versus Sharks stand-off from West Side Story.
Fortunately, such moments quickly passed as individuals or the ensemble as a whole grounded themselves by returning to the malambo.
A wonderful evening’s entertainment then which delivered both an insight into Argentinian culture and which left audiences buzzing with excitement.

• Review by Peter Murphy