A NIGHT AT A POSADA. 



21 



with eas}' spontaneous grace and precision, both l)y the 

 girl and her partner. 



Though t^yo or more pairs may be dancing at once, each 

 is quite independent of the others, and only dance to 

 themselves : nor do the partners ever touch each other.* 

 The steps are difficult and somewhat intricate, and there is 

 plenty of scope for individual skill, though grace of move- 

 ment and supple pliancy of limb and body are almost 

 universal and are strong points in dancing both the fan- 

 dango and minuet. Presently the climax of the dance 



THE VILLAGE POSADA. 



approaches. The notes of the guitar grow faster and 

 faster : the man — a stalwart shepherd lad — leaps and 

 bounds around his pirouetting partner, and the steps, 

 though still well ordered and in time, grow so fast one can 

 hardly follow their movements. 



Now others rise and take the places of the lirst dancers, 



* We have seen an exception to this in the mountain villages of 

 the Castiles, where, on fiesta nights, a sort of rude valse is danced in 

 the open street. 



