The story of Mauro Dellac, the new national champion of malambo: from Maquinista Savio in Osaka

The National Festival of Malambo de Labordeprovince of Córdoba, closed its 55th edition this Sunday with the consecration of a new champion: Mauro Dellac from Buenos Aireswhich gave a nice take on southern malambo. The runner up was Marcos Vázquez with an equally beautiful northern malambo.

It must be said that the aspiring champions who arrive in the city of Laborde – one from each province of the country, previously chosen in local competitions– come with a very demanding preparation that it took no less than a year every day of the weekmany hours a day.

They bring their own choreographies, called “routines” in Malambist jargon, which they cannot last more than five minutes on stage and it is only one of them who receives the highest prize; Furthermore, this prize does not involve any economic compensation.

Yes, it may seem like a sacrifice, but not for these stubborn artists. Someone, erroneously, may believe that the malambit is an athlete due to the difficulty of his training (although like that of any dancer, on the other hand). Or also why the winner is called a champion, as in sport. But malambo is, without a doubt, pure art, a sublime art.

Mauro Dellac (31 years old) represented the province of Buenos Aires with his malambo; He was born and lives in Maquinista Savio, Escobar neighborhood, and started dancing at the age of 9. Malambo appeared relatively early.

the path of the malambo

-Could you make a summary of your tour?

-At the age of 8 I started dancing in the municipal ballet “It’s Getting Light”, from Escobar’s party; At the age of 9 I begin to perform in folklore competitions and At the age of 12 I heard about Laborde thanks to Professor Arancibia, which was what set me up in malambo. Little knowledge on the part of both; I personally knew nothing and, for him, I was his first pupil.

He adds: “At the age of 19 I arrived at Laborde and won in a category called ‘special young people’, it was the first time I went there! There I met that fire that the Festival has, its audience, its stage”.

-How did you shape this malambo with which you won?

-Some modifications that I took from other champions: from Rodolfo Alcántara, from “Polaco” Vergés, from Ariel Pérez, which helped me in different ways. I learned a lot from my mentor Sergio Chávez, who guided me for years; with him I learned what perseverance means, the importance of arriving early for rehearsals, the seriousness that this moment must have.

“Afterwards we are like two children having fun; but that space, from a similar hour to a similar hour of rehearsals, is very strict: he, my teacher; me, his pupil”, he graphically.

The routine of a lifetime

-How long did it take you to prepare the “routine” with which you have won now?

-Almost all my life. It’s the one I started with in 2008 and have done it many timesdeepening and adding more and more things.

-And how many times have you performed in Laborde in recent years?

-Between 2016 and 2018 I made it to the final twice. But I lost in the next preselection and Then I decided to present myself to Cosquín as a malambist and I won. I think my head, compared to Laborde who is so demanding, needed a rest. The next year I spent working with Malevo (Note: A successful for-export malambo company) into an amusement park in the city of Osakain Japan.

“I’ve deviated a bit from malambo, but I’ve told myself I’m going back to Argentina and getting ready for Laborde,” he explains.

-How was the experience of spending a year dancing in Japan?

-Beautiful; A very different culture and customs. Clean, quiet, lots of nature. I dedicated myself to living that experience, to working, to being independent. It was very beautiful and also very difficult: we did five shows a day, in the summer with terrible heat. And the demand from the Japanese is enormous: a late arrival and you are excluded.

“I told you that I returned to Argentina determined to prepare for Laborde throughout that year. Early 2020. Imagine: the world has exploded,” he recalls about the incipient times of the pandemic.

dance in quarantine

-How did you spend the period of confinement?

-Very sad at the beginning; but I set up a room in my house, put up mirrors and tried it on my own, sometimes with the help of my teacher via Zoom. In the middle of the year I was fully prepared, thinking that in January 2021 I would arrive in Laborde, but there was no festival.

“I know the pandemic has been terrible, but for me it helped me to deeply question why and what I wanted to be a champion at Laborde for and what I wanted to express with my malambo. I think my choreography really came from there,” she understands.

-How?

-Its delicacy, the feeling that comes from my heart. And the answer to the “for what” is that it was a way of thanking so many years of folklore, meeting so many people and all that I share with them. Folklore taught me to be a person: discipline, respect, not to get into bad habits.

-Can you live on folklore?

-Yup. I teach many classes, judge competitions, train jugglers and am still Malevo. It’s a company that innovates a lot and I I am one of the oldest.

-Having been national champion in Laborde you will no longer be able to compete in that category. Can this be read as a great resignation?

-To begin with, it is true that I will not be able to compete again for the national title, but other directions are open, such as performing with a malambo quartet or a traditional partner dance, things that allow you to continue learning forever.

He concludes: “Also, if you’ve reached the top level of the Festival, you don’t feel like coming back, because you’ve already established a life. It is logical that no champion wants to compete again: one stage is over and another is opening up”.

Information

The National Festival of Malambo de Laborde 2023 can be followed day by day on your YouTube channel: Malambo National Festival.