Since we have temperatures which make you think of a good Swedish summer, it is difficult to understand that the teams which build human towers (castellers) or falcon constructions (the acrobatic version) are about to end their seasons. But we have already had a short foretaste of cold and stormy weather and soon the squares of Catalonia will too slippery for these cultural expressions.
This Saturday, October 24, the Falcons de Vilanova celebrated their ‘team day’ (diada de la colla), together with visitors from the relatively young formation Falcons de Castellcir. As of tradition, the performance started with a parade through the town centre followed by an exhibition on a stage in the Plaça de la Vila.Compared to what I have got used to, I think that the Falcons de Vilanova had relatively many, and seemingly unnecessary falls. All of them, however, were highly controlled and did not seam to worry the children of the top levels, so we were still treated to a magnificent collection of 'ventalls', 'vols', 'the cathedral', a 'pira' of ten levels, a ‘capdil 8 de 9’ and a four-level pillar erected from below.
The Falcons de Castellcir won my liking with their festive atmosphere and samba inspired music, and presented us with several constructions, for example a staircase (escala) of 7 levels.- - -
During the same hours as Vilanova was busy watching falcons, the human tower team of our neighbour town Sitges - la Colla Jove - managed to assemble and dismantle a so called “4 de 8”. I certainly want to congratulate them but, at the same time, hope that this serves as a motivator for all Bordegassos of Vilanova. We still have three more opportunities to prove to ourselves (politically correct in the world of castellers) and to the world (highly incorrect, but what I strongly feel) that we are at least on the same level. Honestly, do we want to end the season as the second best team of the comarca Garraf?
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Technorati tags: Castellers, Catalonia, Garraf, Human Towers, Penedès, Sitges, Vilanova
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