The proceedings at all harvest dances are very similar. I give as example a Boro dance at the gathering of the manioc, which is but an excuse for this dance, as manioc is pulled up at all times and seasons. As is almost universal in Indian dancing, the outer circle, or rather semicircle, is composed of men. The women, fewer in number, stand together in the centre, or each behind the man of her choice. Their dancing staves are all decorated with bunches of manioc shoots. The woman, with the nearer hand resting on the man’s shoulder, keeps step with him, moving to her own front and not sideways like the man, though in the same direction. The inner group face the circle of men, and their steps are complementary to those of the men, and not identical with them. The chief starts the dance with the first line of the song, his wife replies, and her answer is echoed by the chorus of the chief’s women.
Chief.
I am old and weak and my belly craves food.
Who has sown the pika[325] in the emie?[326]
Wife.
I have sown the pika long, long ago.
The maica[327] is sown with young shoots.
Chorus.
We have sown the pika long, long ago.
The maica is sown with young shoots.