REVIEW: MALEVO at Peacock Theatre 31 October – 4 November 2023

‘The speed and precision of this show left the audience spellbound’ ★★★★

There was clearly an air of anticipation in the auditorium. What is Malevo? Traditional Argentine dance influenced by a lifestyle amongst wild horses? A mixture of dance styles, and folk and pop music? Nothing anybody here had ever seen before.

The show opened with the eerie tones of a violin quickly followed by a guitar accordion and drums. A South American folk quartet! But, they only formed the musical accompaniment for the performance. Their presence turned out not to be particularly prominent in the end. They did, however, play a well-balanced role, adding a folky ambience and tying the action sequences together. 

Action sequences? These were supposed to be dancers. The last time I was here I saw Cirque Berserk. What had I let myself in for this time? Well, I did say this was nothing anybody here had ever seen before. And I was probably right.  Thirteen drummers smashed their way onto the stage bashing out some ear-splitting mayhem for the next ten minutes. Folk music! Not quite ‘Kumbaya’ around the campfire a la cub scouts. More your testosterone fuelled psycho macho men in skintight trousers and cuban heels. This was a whirlwind for what felt like a very fast 90 minutes. But then, doesn’t time always seem to go faster when you are enjoying yourself?

Barring the changes in tempo and a few brief pauses to allow the audience to catch up and get their heads round what they were seeing, there was no let up in pace. The action moved rapidly on from drumming to the dancing. One solitary performer prancing like a stallion, the animal allegory was obvious, and the audience loved it. Then, more dancers and more foot stomping. Bare footed sometimes.

That was followed by blankets swishing around, whips cracking, then a combination of dance with the addition of bolas bashing out the rhythms as they cracked against the floor. It looked fast and dangerous, and one always wonders how people practice this sort of thing without having an accident. But that was never going to happen tonight, the speed and precision of this show left the audience spellbound. Never a foot out of step or a missed beat, these guys were good, and they knew it. You could just feel the intensity as each one took pride in outdoing his predecessor. And the audience were right there with them every step of the way.

The traditional Malambo dance started in the Pampas amongst the Gauchos and was passed down from the older generation of cowboys. Not just a form of entertainment but a competition in its original solo form, it has been developed by director, choreographer and dancer Matias Jaime into its present incarnation in Malevo. With the addition of whips, drums, boleadoras and flamenco, he has developed it into a unique style of entertainment.

Several of the pieces began with the dancers stamping out a rhythm only to be joined by the drummer who drowned out what was happening on stage. Not his fault, I will add. We can’t know what he could hear in his monitor on stage, but the sound technician certainly should have been aware and done something about it straight away. However, occasionally there are dead spots in some auditoriums and that can ruin the sound depending on where you are sitting. Hopefully I was the unlucky one sitting in the dead spot.

The show ended with what seemed at first to be the incongruous addition of music by the Beatles and Rolling Stones. Not quite sure how 1960s pop music fits in with South American folk tradition, but they threw it in anyway. And on second thoughts, Paint it Black seemed to have the racy tempo that fitted in with the pace of the show and so sped the proceedings along to what can only be described as a spectacular crescendo.

The audience seemed to like it and almost everyone was on their feet by the end. Prompting a return for a quick and well-appreciated encore.

MALEVO created by director, choreographer, and dancer, Matías Jaime

Showing at Peacock Theatre

Portugal St,

London WC2A 2HT

Tuesday 31 October - Saturday 4 November

Monday - Saturday at 7.30pm

Wednesday & Saturday at 2.30pm

Box Office:

Tel: 020 7863 8000 (12pm - 6pm)

online: www.sadlerswells.com

Tickets: from £18