Baile del tres y la copa

Baile del Tres [dance of three]: (from beginning to 0:42)

Similar to the Baile del Moño, the Baile del Tres, as suggested by its name, has three dancers which can be two men and one woman or the two women and one man. As with the Baile del Moño, the dance starts with a couple dancing at the rhythm of the Torbellino; the man invites the woman to dance once he listens the rhythm of the Torbellino being played by the requinto and the tiple. He will go back and forth three times and after she accepts, and then they dance for a couple of minutes. The third dancer will join the dance when one of the members of the ensemble cues them with a couplet. At that point the two dancers that are dancing will open some space for the third dancer to pass through them and they will all start to dance the tres (three) following the shape of a figure eight. The purpose of this dance is to show a jealous competition between the dancers to flirt and win over the dancer who is “alone.”

One of the members of the ensemble will indicate with a couplet the moment when the third dancer has to leave. As observed at minute 0:42, Blanca Rivera says the following poetic couplet to introduce the Baile de la Copa (dance of the cup):

Salgan a bailar la copa [Go out to dance the cup]

Quien la tumbe pagara [Whoever knocks her down will pay]

Yo le apuesto señoritas [I bet you ladies]

Que este no sale con nada [That this one does not come out with anything]

Notice that at minute 0:55 one of the members say: el que la tumba [the one that makes her fall], and the rest of the group answers back: la paga [pays it]. This is a way cheering the dancers and the performance up. The same dynamic is observed at minute 1:13, but this time the following lines are used: viva quien baila [hurrah who dances] and the ensemble answers back viva [hurrah].

Baile de la Copa [the cup dance]: (from min 0:42 to the end)

The Baile de la Copa is a couples dance that receives its name from the shape that the hats make when they are stacked on top of one another and consists of a game of not touching the hats that are placed in the middle of the dance area. After the invitation of the man, the male/female couple will dance Torbellino for couple of minutes. Following this, the man offers his hat to the public and puts it on the ground between him and his dance partner. Once the hat is in the floor, the couple will dance around the hat in circles. Then, the woman will offer her hat to her dance partner, putting it upside-down on top of his hat, forming the shape of a cup. Each of the dancers will try to get the other dancer as close as possible to the hats to win this game. The dance finishes when one of the dancers throws away the hats. The “loser” picks up the hats and has to “pay” with a couplet. Before saying the couplet, s/he will offer excuses with the following couplet:

Disculpeme caballero/senorita [Excuse me gentleman / miss]

Perdi el Baile de la Copa [I lost the cup dance]

Como no tengo dinero [As I have no money]

Le pago con esta copla [I will pay you with this couplet]

After this couplet, the person will say another couplet to “pay” the lost of the dance. The dancer will choose any couplet that she/he remembers.