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Pericon Dance


The "pericón" is a typical dance of the plain. It is a very smart dance and it was called "dance of four" because this was the minimum of couples needed, and also because the choreography of the former dance consisted only of four figures which were called, in the correct order, "demanda (claim) or "espejo" (mirror), "postrera" (last) or "alegre" (cheerful), "cadena" (chain) and "cielo" (heaven).

Each figure had several different movements performed according to the orders of either the singer or the "bastonero" –kind of director-. The movements followed the rhythm of a slow waltz of a characteristic step of all "pericones" The "bastonero" had to be chosen with extreme care, since the success of the dance depended in a great part on his wit.

Then, to make the movements more attracting, new figures were added. The most well-known of these new figures was the "pabellón", where the couples, taken by their arms, made a circle and following the rhythm, each couple, with their free hand, spread out a scarf above their heads, intercalating the colors blue and white of the Argentinian flag.