Header

Penn State College of Arts and Architecture
Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State

Event Slides Per Node 1415

  • Twelve musicians each stand with their left arm raised and holding a drumstick while their drums hang from a strap around their shoulders.
  • A drummer stands in between two dancers while they kneel and lock their right hands together.
  • A group of musicians with drums strapped to their shoulders hold their arms above their heads or straight in front of them while they stand in a circle and look at the audience.
  • Four musicians point at a percussionist standing in the middle of them while he plays his drum.

Che Malambo

10:00 am Thursday, March 15, 2018
60 minutes

Che Malambo is an all-male dance company from Argentina. Dancer, director, and choreographer Gilles Brinas first learned about the malambo style when researching traditional dances. He fell under its spell and travelled to Argentina to study the dynamic blend of precision footwork, rhythmic stomping, drumming, and song dating back to seventeenth-century competitive duels and the still-continuing gaucho (South American cowboy) culture of the pampas (lowland plains). International audiences embrace the agility, strength, and dexterity of Che Malambo’s fast-paced zapeteo footwork inspired by the rhythm of galloping horses. Malambo also features the drumming of traditional Argentine bombos and whirling boleadoras (throwing weapons made of intertwined cords and weighted with stones).

Key Learning Areas: 
Historical and Cultural Contexts
Concepts, Principles, and Strategies of Movement
Interactions Between People and Places
Global Competency
PA Academic Standards: 
Arts and Humanities
Geography
Health, Safety, and Physical Education
Artist Websites: 

support provided by
McQuaide Blasko Endowment

All In

Educator Preparation Materials: 

We provide teaching materials that point out subject area connections that follow the Pennsylvania Standards Aligned System/Academic Standards, the Pennsylvania Department of Education and Learning Standards for Early Childhood, and the Common Core State Standards. Contact Medora Ebersole at 814‑863‑6752 or mde13@psu.edu to receive these resources.