Sardana

[1] Men and women join together in a circle by holding hands and facing inwards to dance either the historical sardana curta (with an approximate duration of 5 minutes) or the present-day sardana llarga (with a duration of approximately 12–13 minutes).

[1] It is believed that the invented traditions are a way to stabilize cultural anchors in a time of rapid socioeconomic or political change.

[7][6] In fact, today Catalans are known for their musicality throughout Spain and much of Western Europe; sardana has emerged as a major source of personal and social identity.

[6] Similar to what happened with the Catalan language when in 1891 Pompeu Fabra published his grammar, the different sardanes were standardised into what today is known as sardana llarga.

Pep Ventura is credited for stabilizing the different variants around a clear 68 rhythm[citation needed] and making the instrumental ensemble of a fixed size.

He included the today's standard long steps (els llargs) and the eleven player cobla band.

[1] Though some Iberian and Mediterranean circle dances follow similar patterns, instrumental music for the sardana has achieved a complexity of its own.

[1] Its influence was extended throughout the 20th century thanks to the dance group Obra del Ballet Popular [ca], which organised aplecs and other sardana events in communities where it was previously unknown.

[1] In 1924, during the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera, the civil governor of Barcelona banned the patriotic sardana La Santa Espina, seen as being Catalanist.

[6] Sardana was temporally prohibited in the 1940s in Francoist Spain because it was considered to foment false feelings of pride and superiority among the Catalans.

[12][13] The dance became a national symbol because it is identified with the core Catalan values including harmony, brotherhood, and democracy.

[1] The sardana is considered by Catalans one of the most prominent elements of their culture and deserving to be defended against threats from outsiders.

This view was greatly increased with the suppression of La Santa Espina in 1924[6][9] and the prohibition of sardana in 1940s Francoist Spain and its use as a protest mechanism.

This vexes and baffles Castilians and other Spaniards whose custom believes that birthplace and descent primarily define national identity.

Catalan ethnic identity can be acquired by learning, they do not consider it a biological or race matter.

A quote from Montserrat Roig's novel Molta roba i poc sabó ... i tan neta que la volen reads:[1] I know people in the government who are very well-intentioned and are able to participate in our way of life ...

[1] Pep's Catalan identity rejection is reflected in Castilian press such as the digital "El Español".

The soul is a way to express the imprinting made through learning and exposure to the world around a person.

As a result, both sardana llarga and Pep Ventura have become symbols of national resistance against the power of Castile.

The cobla has five woodwind instruments: the flabiol which is a small fipple flute, and the tenora and tible (two of each) which belong to the oboe family.

The double bass was traditionally a three-stringed one, but now the part is usually written for and played on the modern four-stringed instrument.

The dancers hold hands throughout the dance: arms down during the curts and raised to shoulder height during the llargs.

Another kind of circle may be formed by members of organised sardana clubs called colles, and each colla may wear its own costume.

In order to dance sardanes comfortably the footwear must be flexible enough to allow the dancer to jump slightly when the llargs come.