Zapateo

Zapateo which literally means "shoe tapping", is rooted in the Spanish Flamenco and before that, in the ancient cultural influences imported in to Europe by the Gypsies.

Zapateo which later produced the more famous Malambos dance, arrived in South America from Spain around the year 1600 CE and was a favorite pastime of the gaucho (descendants of Spanish conquistadores and aborigines) also known as the "South American cowboys" specially around the camp fires in the lonely stretches of the flatlands known as the Pampas.