Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-19
ARGENTINE CAMP DANCE.
The Gaucho and His Best dirl-Danc
ing the Cato and the Hota.

The Gaucho and His Best 0irl-Danc-
ing the Cato and the Hota.
From the Los Angeles Times.
The camp dances of the Argentine pampas
are more or less elaborate affairs, according
to the pretensions Of the houses that give
them. On entering the house where the
dance Is being held you are ushered at once
to the kitchen-there will be often only two
rooms in the house-where you will find the
rest of the guests sitting about drinking
mate If there Is chair in the house 1t
will be given to you In difference to the
"distinguIdo' position the family believe you
occupy In the world Of affairs. as outlined
by your Argentine friend and sponsor in
soliciting your invitation. II there Is no
chair you get the broadcast and smoothest
horse skull to sit upon. or. II you prefer,
blanket
The girls present are robustly developed.
straightforward young persons, who carry
themselves with easy grace. They are
dressed neatly in dresses that cover them
from shoulder to shoe top, and have lot
of funny fxings o nthem that you will not
be able to describe. The men Of the
gaucho type, and brave in all the splendor
OF their best ponchos, chiripas and a lot Of
other technical and untranslatable finery.
All wear loose, half top boots. a gaudy
handkerchief about the neck. an extremely
broad brimmed felt hat on the head and.
crowning feature of all, around the waist
a huge foot-wide belt, called a tirador. This
unique affair may have anywhere from
four to a dozen pockets or bags sewed in
it. as well as a sheath for knife and
holster for q revolver. Those worn at
dances are often decorated with embroidery
or silver work
The dancing is begun on the earthen floor
of the kitchen, which. from its nature. does
not permit Of much in the way of gliding.
The two most popular dances are the cato
and the hota. In this dance you begin work
I'M ont To a music of a guitar. the IL
stefan picking away for five minutes or so
at kind Of a monotonous strumpity- strump
tune, from which he breaks Into song.
When this song starts you must, accord
ing to the rules, stop dancing and salute
your partner. with an appropriate verse of
poetry. She In turn, must counter with
similar verse. and then. the song being
over, you begin dancing again to the
strumpity strump.
The hota Is q cross between highland
fling and a Spanish fandango. Dancing 1t.
you and your partner face. without touch
ing, each other. do sort OF double shume
with your feet. snap your fingers above
your heads In imitation Of castanets. all
the time casing fixediy into each other
eyes. This last L. the principal rule OF the
game, and II you let your eyes wander for a
moment to where another girl Is dancing.
your partner stops work instantly, gives her
fine shoulders a shrug. her equally fine head
a toss and goes back to her Horse skull
In q hun.
You will always be in danger of being
favored with an invitation from q jealous
sweetheart to accompany him on into the
moonshine to fight for the hand and heart
OF the lady. In this event 1t 10 hundred
to one that you Will be the missing man In
whose lack Of interest in the proceedings It
Is etiquette for neither the host nor the
guests to interest themselves. Should you
chance to be the other man you are no whit
better of. for you will then have the girl
on your hands.
A dance lasts from whenever 1t begins to
hfnc nff Ri 1tr,ep
You have q supper about midnight and a
breakfast toward daylight both consist
principally of a hot stew called q gisa- Men
and women served separately, though
for what reason have never been able to
determine. Between dances. Ii you do as
the rest do. you suck up mate and drink
cana. though wisdom advises q total avoid
ance of the latter. Cana is q rum made
from sugar cane. and 1t has the peculiar
property of swooping down the faculties of
the drinker when he thinks 1t is not affect
ing him In the least with all the suddenness
and fury of the explosion of decayed
charge OF dynamite. By the time the hour
OF breaking up arrives every one Is tired
out