Castell

For other uses, see Castell (disambiguation).

A castell (Catalan pronunciation: [kəsˈteʎ]) is a human tower built traditionally in festivals at many locations within Catalonia, in Spain. At these festivals, several colles castelleres or teams often succeed in building and dismantling a tower's structure. On November 16, 2010, castells were declared by UNESCO to be amongst the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Origin

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 and even Majorca. The only 5 teams that have built complex gamma extra castells are from Valls, Vilafranca del Penedès, Terrassa and Mataró.

The Castell

In Catalan the word castell means castle.

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.

Aside from the people who climb to form the upper parts of the tower, others are needed to form the pinya, or bottom base of the castell, to sustain its weight. Members of the pinya (most often men) also act as a 'safety net' if the tower structure collapses, cushioning the fall of people from the upper levels.

The castell is built in two phases. First, the pinya the base of the tower is formed. People forming higher levels of the tower move to a position from which they can easily get to their place in the tower. This is done slowly and carefully, and as subsequent base levels are completed the castellers in the pinya determine if their base is solid enough for construction to continue. Then, when the signal to proceed is given, bands begin to play the traditional Toc de Castells music as a hush comes over spectators of the event. The upper layers of the tower are built as quickly as possible in order to put minimal strain on the lower castellers, who bear most of the weight of the castell. The disassembly of the castell, done amidst the cheering of the crowd, is often the most treacherous stage of the event.

There is a form of the Castell, generally referred to as 'rising', in which each successive layer is added from the bottom by lifting the castell into the air, stage by stage. It is held that this form takes even more skill and strength and a great deal of practice. Four levels complete have been observed and five attempted, but it is said that the record is six or perhaps seven.

Attire

Quatre de vuit of the Castellers de la Vila de Gràcia in Lleida (24-10-2009)

Typically castellers wear white trousers, a black sash, a bandana and a coloured shirt often bearing the team's emblem. A differently coloured shirt indicates which team a participant is in. Team Castellers de Barcelona wear red shirts while Castellers de Vilafranca wear green shirts.

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.

Structure

The arrangement of castellers can be into a multi-tiered structure and the highest has a height spanning of nine or ten people from ground up. Accidents are seldom during the construction of a castell, however as in bull runs ambulance are stationed nearby just in case a person needs to be immediately taken to hospital. Fatal accidents do occur where on August 6, 2006, in Mataró a young casteller fell off the formation of a castell and died. Prior to this, the previous death of a participant was in 1981 in Torredembarra.

The motto of Castellers is "Força, equilibri, valor i seny" (Strength, balance, courage and reason).

• Strength: A casteller is usually a stocky person. The first castellers were peasants that were accustomed to holding great weights and were under much physical exertion.
• Balance: For supporting other above in the castell while relying on those below for support requires a strong sense of balance and trust.
• Courage: The most important characteristic for castellers, especially for young children forming the highest levels of the castell.
• Reason: Rehearsing and performing requires a great deal of planning and reasoning. Any error can cause the structure to fail and break apart.

Terminology

Castell nomenclature

Castells are primarily described by number of people in each level and the total number of levels, and sometimes also by a style of formation. Levels are composed of between one and five individuals standing on the shoulders of the level below.

Common terms indicating the number of people for each level of a tower:

• Pilar (Eng. "pillar"): one person per level
• Torre ("tower"): two people per level
• Tres : three people per level
• Quatre : four people per level
• Cinc : five people per level

Numbers of levels most commonly built:

• Sis : six levels high
• Set : seven levels
• Vuit : eight levels
• Nou : nine levels
• Deu : ten levels

Very high towers and ones with a small number of people on each level normally need extra support from the base or bottom levels. These base levels are frequently indicated as part of the name of the tower. Three kinds of base levels are most commonly used:

• Pinya ("bulk"): the ground-level base, often composed of several hundred people. All towers have this, but it is never mentioned in the name.
• Folre ("cover"/"lining"): a second-level base built on top of the pinya. It is always mentioned when used.
• Manilles ("handles"/"handcuffs"): a third-level base built on top of the second-level folre. It is always mentioned when used.

The word agulla ("needle") refers to a high column of one person per level which is built inside the main tower. When the castell is being dismantled, the agulla must remain standing until the outside part of the castell is already down.

Another aspect of castell nomenclature refers to how successfully the tower was completed. Three terms are used:

• Descarregat : the tower was completed to the top and successfully dismantled
• Carregat : the tower was completed to the top, but fell during dismantling
• Intent : a failed attempt

Examples

Fully constructed

Remaining agulla after dismantling of upper levels

The Castellers de Vilafranca's Quatre de nou amb folre i l'agulla (Four in nine with folre and agulla)

• Pilar de sis: one person per level in a tower of six levels. If nothing else is mentioned, this means that the tower had the bottom base-level pinya (as always) and was successfully dismantled (descarregat).
• Torre de set: two people per level in a tower of seven stories.
• Cinc de nou amb folre: five people at each level in a tower of nine levels, with a second-level folre built on top of the base-level pinya.
• Quatre de vuit amb agulla: four people at each level in a tower of eight levels, with an interior agulla.
• Tres de deu amb folre i manilles: three people per level in a tower of ten levels, with a second-level folre and a third-level manilles.

Castellers

• aixecador ("riser"): The person who helps lock together the dosos so providing a stable platform for the enxaneta who stands astride the aixecador. Almost always a child.
• cap de colla ("band leader"): The head of each team, who decides which castells the team is ready to attempt and directs the construction of the castells from the ground. The cap de colla is always accompanied by a number of assistants and advisers.
• cap de pinya one of the band leaders's assistants who takes particular responsibility for the allocation of places in the pinya, ensuring even force is applied to the base of the castell. The cap de pinya will allocate first, second and third hands, first and second dice, laterals etc. depending on the size of the castell.
• dosos ("the twos"): The level sustaining and locked together by the aixecador and surmounted by the enxenata. Generally kids.
• enxaneta ("rider") : The topmost casteller, a child.
• pom de dalt ("top bunch"): The top three levels of the castell: dosos, aixecador, and enxaneta.

"Colles Castelleres"

• Capgrossos de Mataró
• Castellers de Vilafranca
• Castellers de la Vila de Gràcia
• Colla Joves Xiquets de Valls
• Colla Vella Xiquets de Valls
• Minyons de Terrassa

See also

• Muixeranga
• Govinda sport, an Indian variant

External links

• Coordinadora de Colles Castelleres de Catalunya
• Sentosa Casteller
• Human towers forum
• Castellers de Vilafranca
• Human Towers! - slideshow by Life magazine
• Castellers de Barcelona (English language)
• spanien-katalonien site with photographs and video of castell construction
• Information about Castells (English language)
• Visually informative video by freelance journalist living in Spain