Castells
Castells (castles) are one of the most popular catalan traditions nowadays. Roughly speaking, a castell is a human tower. The first castells appeared in the city of Valls, province of Tarragona, around 1712. They had their up-and-downs throughout history, and now they're in a new golden age, with lots of collas (groups) spread tthrough Catalonia and other catalan countries as Valencia, the Balearic Islands and the Roussilion.
Basic Notions
Castell: The tower itself. Castells are
cathegorized acording to 2 parameters: a) the number of people on
each layer of the tower and b) the number of layers. Thus, a 4/8
is a castell made of 8 layers with 4 people per layer. However,
the last 3 layers of any castell are always the same. First, two
kids facing each other, known as dosos.
Over them, a kid bended down known as acotxador
and, on top of him/her, the enxaneta,
the kid who crowns the castell.
Casteller/a: The boy/girl who makes castells
Colla Castellera: Each group dedicated to making
castells.
Pom de dalt: The group formed by the dosos,
acotxador and enxaneta.
Pinya: The croud gathered around the first layer
(the base) of a castell to help it stay firm. Its members are
strategically placed, and the success in crowning the castell
depends on them.
Enxaneta: The kid who goes on top of the
castell. He/she passes his/her leg over the bended down acotxador
and raises his/her hand, crowning the castell. In this moment the
castell gets carregat (loaded).
However, the castell is not completely succesful until it's fully
downloaded (descarregat) without its
members falling down.
Pilar: Castell with only one person per layer.
Folre: A pinya formed over the first one (on the
second layer) to give more strenght to 8 and 9-layer castells.
Manilles: A third pinya, formed over the folre.
Aleta: "Fer l'aleta" (to do the aleta)
is what the enxaneta does when rising his/her hand at the
crowning of the castell.
Gralla: Musical instrument, similar to a flute,
played in castell performances. Each step of the construction is
accompanied by a different melody or no music at all.
