The tradition of building castells originated in Valls, near the city of Tarragona,
in the southern part of Catalonia towards the end of the 18th century.
Later it developed a following in other regions of Catalonia and, since
1981, when the first castell of 9 levels of the 20th century was built,
it has become very popular in most of Catalonia.
A castell is considered a success when stages of its assembling
and disassembling, can be done in complete succession. The assembly is
complete once all castellers have climbed into their designated places, and the enxaneta
climbs into place at the top and raises one hand with four fingers
erect, in a gesture said to symbolize the stripes of the Catalan flag.
The enxaneta then climbs down the other side of the castell, after which the remaining levels of castellers descend in highest-to-lowest order until all have reached safety.
The sash (faixa) is the most important part of their outfit,
since it supports the lower back and is used by other castellers in the
team as a foothold or handhold when climbing up the tower. This
tasselled piece of cloth varies in length and width and depends on the casteller's
position inside the tower and also on choice. The length of the sash
ranges from 1.5 to 12 m, and usually is shorter for those higher up in
the castell. Performing castellers usually go barefoot as to minimise
injures upon each other as they climb to their position and also for
sensitivity when balancing and to have better feel and hold each other.
The motto of Castellers is "Força, equilibri, valor i seny" (Strength, balance, courage and common sense).
Not a bad motto for life in general. More info
here.
All I could think is "Those children! They're so small! Oh don'tfalldon'tfalldon'tfall!" aie :S
ReplyDeleteThe mass of people at the bottom is actually as much of a safety precaution as the helmets. Way cool.
ReplyDeleteThats amazing. Really, really amazing.
ReplyDeleteHoly smokes!
ReplyDelete