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This dance is really ancient and according to folklorists is one of the antecedents to Catalan tradition of the Castellers (forming of human towers).
In Vilanova there are references to this dance in the middle of the twentieth century. It is not known whether Vilanovins danced it or whether it was danced by people from another part of Catalonian. A piece of music for the Ball de Valencians was found in the Vilanova archives.
The Ball de Valecians has a danced part with several different figures and finishes with a tower with several of the dancers climbing on each shoulder. Originally the tower started to grow higher and higher and in the end became independent from the dance to form what is now known as “castells humans” or human towers.
It is probably called the Ball de Valencians as it was danced by people from Valencia, although some authorities think that its name comes from the Latin word “valens” (valiant or brave). There is another school of thought that it comes from the town o Valls, which is considerate, the birthplace of castells. Old newspaper reports show the dance was admired for its spectacular movement.
There are no choreographic records of the dance directly relating to Vilanova and as a result the dance was re-constructed from the information gained from various works and publications describing the dance, principally those from the Tarragona region. (The dance is also danced Tarragona, Reus and El Vendrell).
The height of the tower was no fixed and varies dependant on number of people available and their aptitude, but it was never higher than four levels.
L’Agrupacio de Balls Populars revived the Ball de Valencians as part of its mission to promote Catalan cultural heritage and to give more people the opportunity to participate in Vilanova’s festes. There is a minimum of twenty-four people in this dance, divided into groups of eight.
The music is provided by several “gralla” players (short wide-bore shawm) and a snare drummer and has different parts for each stage of the dance.
The Ball de Valencians of Vilanova consists of six parts L’Entrada (the entry), Els Braços (the arms), La Jota, L’Estrella Gran and Les Estrelles Petites (the big and the little stars) and La Torre (the human tower).
The reconstruction began in December 1999 and had involved much intensive work, as, although the dance has been widely documented by scholars, there are few references of the choreography and very few old photographs of the dance existing. The dance largely disappeared at the end of the nineteenth century when it was co-existing with the castellers. The last Ball de Valencians was thought to be from Arbeca and there are photographs of the human towers taken in 1925 –1926 period.
The group has between twenty-four and thirty-two dancers, dancing in-groups of eight and all combining in the finale to make the human tower.
The costume is white shirt and trousers, a “faldilleta” (a short kilt as worn by the “bastoners”), two scarves crossed across the chest (which are used in the choreography), espadrilles and a “faixa” (wide cotton cummerbund) which is necessary for making the human towers.
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El ball de Valencians
