Catalan Folk Dances: History and Identity

The sardana, a traditional folk dance that is still popular today in Catalunya, is a symbol of Catalan culture and local people’s pride in their traditions. 

Just like the Catalan language and other traditions, the sardana was banned by Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. This gave the dance even more significance to the local populace after the Franco era ended; so much so that it, like the senyera (Catalan flag), represents a symbol of both resistance and unity for the Catalan people. In fact, the dance is so significant that there are statues representing the dance in towns all over Catalunya—in Barcelona, Figueres, Escala, Malgrat de Mar and others—and every year a Catalan city is designated the Capital of the Sardana. (In 2022, the chosen city was Balaguer.) Pablo Picasso even captured the dance in a famous charcoal drawing in 1953, La Sardane de la Paix (The Sardana of Peace).

However, while the sardana is without question the most well-known and arguably most important Catalan traditional dance, there are other folkloric dances that have either retained or recovered their historical significance. A few of the most common are the ball de gitanes, ball de bastons, ball de cossis and the contrapàs, though you’ll find dozens of local traditional dances specific to towns across the region.

The Sardana

The sardana is characterized by joining raised hands in a circle and dancing with slow, small, precise steps. The circle slowly turns and widens as more and more people join the dance, following the timing and movements of a designated leader. The circle formation is thought to have come from ancient folk dances that existed around the Mediterranean region, specifically around Empordà in Girona.

The circles can either be same-sex, mixed or specifically for couples. Be careful about joining a circle if you don’t know which kind it is, as it’s frowned upon for a single person to join a couples’ circle, for example. It’s also not considered acceptable to join “just for fun” if you don’t know the steps, as the movements look deceptively simple, but coordination is key: one misplaced step or gesture can throw the entire circle out of whack. Once the circle grows too large, a new circle is formed. At the end of the dance, three, four or even five concentric circles can form, making the dance quite an impressive sight.

Often, no specific clothing is worn—you’ll see people of all ages dancing together in regular street clothes, with bags, coats and other personal items heaped in the center of the circle. However, on special occasions, such as street festivals like Santa Eulàlia, La Mercè, Saint John’s Eve (Nit de Sant Joan) or the neighborhood festes majors, teams of dancers will get decked out in traditional garb. This consists of the barretina (traditional headdress), white shirt, dark pants and a red flannel belt called the faix for the men; a mantilla (shawl), a wide skirt and coiffe catalane (a small crochet or lace cap) for the women; both wear traditional shoes called vigatanes. (In fact, vigatanes are traditionally worn for nearly all the traditional dances in the region.)

Two melodic themes traditionally accompany the dance, which are repeated several times in a specific order. In the first, the dancers perform short steps, and in the second, longer steps. A pattern of “medium” steps links the two.

The kind of sardana that is danced today dates back to the 19th century. A well-known Catalan musician and composer named Josep Maria Ventura i Casas, or Pep Ventura, is known as the “father of the sardana,” having written more than 200 of them in his lifetime. His use of modern instruments, added to his work in tandem with choreographer Miquel Pardas, helped to standardize and reform the genre. Ventura gave the sardana its rhythm and melodic structure, as well as the the ensemble of instruments associated with the genre: the cobla, which comes from the Latin word copola, meaning “union.” The cobla is composed of twelve mostly wind instruments, lead by a flabiol (a medieval flute or recorder), with the rhythm set by a tambourine. 

In Barcelona, you can often catch sight of groups of people dancing the sardana during the warmer months around sunset in Plaça de Sant Jaume, Plaça del Rei and the square in front of the Cathedral. There are amateur groups that meet to practice, and the school Esbart Català de Dansaires in Barcelona is dedicated to keeping these and other traditional styles of Catalan dance alive.

Ball de Gitanes

The ball de gitanes (Gypsy dance) is typical not only in Catalunya, but also in Valencia. It’s a group dance that’s popular at street festivals and traditional celebrations, and incorporates long, colorful ribbons that are wrapped around a central wooden pole in a style similar to the traditional maypole dance in Sweden and other European countries. 

The dance originated in gypsy wedding celebrations in the 1700s; often you’ll see groups of all women performing this dance, but both sexes can participate. The traditional dress includes a shawl, large skirt and a red carnation worn in the hair for women, and scarves and wide pants for men. Traditional instruments and castanets accompany the dancers, who leap and jump in formation around a central pole, winding their ribbons around it. 

You’ll also find different kinds of balls de gitanes specific to Carnival in certain parts of Catalunya, for example in Vallès. Although it goes by the same name, having originated in gypsy Carnival celebrations, the formation is different and ribbons aren’t involved. This kind of ball de gitanes is made up of several rhythms—including the jota and pasadoble—and is danced with a partner, with the men and women forming two separate lines. Interventions from various traditional Carnival figures take place; for example, a half-serious, half comical old man and woman who harangue the dancers and audience in a playful way. There’s also the “captain,” or the person who asks permission from the public to dance in the square; the seamstresses or dressers, who made the costumes and help the dancers with their scarves, ribbons and castanets if needed; the diables (the devils) and many more.

Balls de Bastons

With origins in medieval times, the movements of this dance with wooden sticks or canes represent an ancient sword fight. It was traditionally danced only by men, but these days women often join in as well. 

The first historical reference to the dance dates back to the year 1150, at the wedding of Berenguer IV to Petronila de Aragón. Similar dances were popular throughout the Iberian Peninsula, but the tradition has been more strongly maintained in Catalunya. They are considered to be the most widespread traditional dance in the Catalan territory, and like it’s more emblematic cousin the sardana, you’ll often see the balls de bastons performed in traditional festivals. 

The dancers form two lines and act out an elaborate choreography with a short, fat wooden stick in each hand, often made of locally-grown holm oak. Sometimes they’re dressed in white skirts or pants, white shirts and colored sashes or belts, but in Barcelona, the numerous neighborhood groups of bastoneras (cane dancers) usually wear colorful clothing inspired by the 1855 Corpus Christi procession at the Santa Maria del Mar church, which apparently included a formation of bastoneras.

Traditional instrumentation can often include a tabor pipe or gaita (similar to a bagpipe), making the music sound strikingly medieval. These dances are also similar to what are known as Morris dances in England and Wales. There is also another version of the dance, appropriately called Dance of the Ribbons, where the sticks are exchanged for (you guessed it) ribbons.

Ball de Cossis

This kind of dance is typical of the Tarragona region, which means you’re bound to see it at the Santa Tecla Festival, which is the largest public celebration in the region. The ball de cossis was typically danced from the early 1400s through the early 1800s, then abandoned. The dance was rediscovered and reincorporated into local festivals only in recent decades by the traditional dance school Esbart Dansaire de Tarragona.

The dance gets its name from the shape of the hat traditionally worn by the dancers, which resembles a “glass” or “container.” It is tall and cylindrical, beige in color, and trimmed with dark blue ribbon and white feathers on top. Dancers, both men and women, wear the same thing: white shirts and loose trousers, with dark blue vests and skirts worn over them, a beige sash and arm bands, and beige braces around the calves, and adorned with jingling bells. Each dancers wears approximately 80 bells on his or her costume. The colors are meant to represent the colors of the sea and the sand, as the sea was and continues to be important to the history of the maritime culture of Tarragona. The costume was created by the Esbart Dansaire based on what documentation they could find of traditional dance costumes from centuries ago.

The music that accompanies the ball de cossis is lively, and made by a cobla de tres cuartans, or three-quarters of a full cobla. (The traditional song danced to in the ball de cossis is based on a melody by Catalan musician Jordi Fà.) A lead dancer marks the time for the others with bells in his or her hand. The choreography, which forms various shapes—triangle, circle, star, or square—is usually performed by six pairs of young people at a time. The full set of dancers is sixteen people, with twelve dancing while four of them take a rest.

Though this dance is specific to Tarragona, the dancers from Tarragona are sometimes invited to other Catalan cities to participate in festes majors and other public celebrations. 

Contrapàs

This dance gets its name from the combination of steps: one step (pas) is followed by another in the opposite (contra) direction. It is said to date back to the 16th century, and is one of the precursors of the sardana. Similar historical dances still exist in other parts of the Iberian Peninsula, such as in the Basque Country. 

The dancers—traditionally all men—form two lines, and clasp raised hands while moving in formation around the square. The dance was historically performed to mark important events or seasonal rituals; for example, to give thanks for the harvest. Different towns around Catalunya still maintain their own specific traditions, such as in the town of Tremp where the dance is still performed. The contrapàs involves a ritual of burning dancers’ paper “tails” worn around the dancers’—usually young, single, male farmers—waists.

The music for this dance is solemn and religious in origin; up until the 19th century, the words that accompanied the music narrated the passion of Christ, who was referred to as el divino in the lyrics. The musical accompaniment is not as complex as the sardana’s twelve-piece cobla, but requires only four instruments: a flabiol, a gralla (a reed instrument), a tamboril (drum) and the gaita. 

As is the case with the ball de cossis dancers, groups specializing in the contrapás are sometimes invited to perform at traditional festivities or important public events in neighboring cities.