Zamba argentina, una danza que comunica más allá.

Abstract

Zamba is an Argentine folk dance that has its origin in the first quarter of the 19th century, recognized as the maximum expression of folklore and popular culture of the Argentine northwest, mainly. The fundamental question of this article responds to the sensitivity of the concept of performance (Turner 2002; Biancioti and Ortecho 2013) and the following question arises: What does the gesture of zamba say through the staging of the handkerchief and the deployment of the gaze on the interactions between the interpreters? The investigation is divided into three parts: a. The history and origin of the Zamba; b. The importance of the Zamba as an expression of the Argentine national identity; and c., The nonverbal languages expressed in the stage performances of the dance. Based on specialized bibliography, on interviews with expert dancers and on participatory research material, the research develops the relationship of this dance expression with cultural and identity dynamics in general, through the contrast with tango and delves into the meaning of the gestures around the handkerchief and the gaze, the meanings of which are not exhausted in the choreographic sequences, but in the interactions between the dancers who stage the eroticism peculiar to the rurality of northwestern Argentina.