File:Traditional Catalan Dance in Barcelona.webm

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The traditional catalan dance is a dance popular Catalan considered the national dance of Catalonia. It is a collective dance dancing men and women holding hands in a circle and tapping their feet the compasses of the music performed by the couplet. The name may refer to both the dance and the music. For dancing traditional catalan dance, an undetermined number of dancers form a circle holding hands and looking at the center, dancing to the right and left with a fairly steady tempo with a slow air often concentrated in some lively moments. The components of the circle should be formed preferably by male-female couples, but only need a minimum of two people holding hands to consider that they have already created a circle. traditional catalan dance dance is a non-exclusive, so anyone at any time of the dance can be added individually or in pairs in the circle (except in the case of a contest or exhibition). However, there is a gang sardanista organized as a stable group, similar to the dance group.

Dancing is more complicated than it seems. traditional catalan dance is divided into several parts, called runs, of which there are two types, short and long. The dancers must have, if you do not know before, the number of stages of each run (the distance) to know just when and how to dance.

The origin of the traditional catalan dance is unknown. Its shape, how to dance it, the fact grab hands, denoting, according to some authors, an age that can be traced back to pre-Roman times. Why are so abundant legends fix its beginning in the ancient Greece, where the circular dances, shaking hands, already abundant, according to some sculptural representations. Later they were taken to Iberian towns and danced to the shores of the Mediterranean. Not to the same degree of standardization and choreographic preparation instrumental in similar circular dances linked 6/8 are also found in other areas of Provence, Galicia, Asturias, Castile and Portugal.

Not until the sixteenth century that appears terminology traditional catalan dance referring to a particular dance that is danced in a circle or closed circle. The first appointments specific word traditional catalan dance, collected by John Amades its publication in the traditional catalan dance, applied to a choreographic context are in a monitor bishop of Girona, Julia Tocco, the year 1575, and refer to provisions to deprive dancing traditional catalan dance in the Corpus inside the cathedral.

The contrapàs, especially for extended Pyrenean and northwestern Catalonia, was a semi liturgical dance dancing chain, mainly men, who represented the hierarchical social organization of a community. The dancers dance in semi circle and the first dancer of the far left dominates the group, urging them to spend more or less long, with the aim of finishing in the same place where it started. If this goal is achieved, the dancers said they had managed to remove the contrapàs. The workshop contained several sections and dancing figures, one of which was choreographed dance Round traditional catalan dance.

The melodies begin copying the model of Italian operas, so the dancers, it used to take more steps than usual, can not finish correctly traditional catalan dance and take dance at the time just music. To contextualize this change must take into account that the songs were not stable, varied and often its components were not professionalized. This meant that they would like to include music in fashion at that time to make the dance more popular and festive. traditional catalan dance cuts represented a new social attitude, putting traditional catalan dance as new dance hit, instead of the old contrapàs.

During the first quarter of the twentieth century there is an intense sardanista. Ateneus arise, clubs and associations that meet regularly and enjoyable encounters with folk songs and dances traditional catalan dance. The dance was taking root in the collective consciousness as a symbol of solidarity and brotherhood, as well as intellectuals and political interests are added that will become the national dance of Catalonia. One of the politicians who helped the spread and symbolization nationalist traditional catalan dance was Francesc Cambo since the council of the City of Barcelona, ​​traditional catalan dance included in the official programs and strengthened partnership concepts Catalan-sardanisme.

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