Hello and welcome to the history page. This month we will embark on a new line of study in
which we will explore the most integral aspects of Ibicenco culture prior to tourism. Our approach will tend to
be more anthropological than strictly historical, in as much as we will attempt to elucidate customs which
were not confined to any specific time period but rather spanned many centuries. In the course of our survey,
we will encompass a wide range of topics such as the social conventions which held island society together,
the forms of livelihood which sustained the rural population and the rich folklore which mischievously wriggled
itself into the most devout Christianity. In short, we will review the colourful gamut of folkways which, until
recently, comprised traditional Ibicenco life.
To start our series we will examine some of the unsuspected
subtleties of ball pagès, the traditional Ibicenco folk
dancing. This custom, once on the verge of disappearing,
has now thankfully been revived, although the island's
elders maintain that it will never be the same again. They remember
the days of yore when dancing was only undertaken
in nature, almost always by wells and on moonlit nights.
And while today's staged performances preserve the beautiful
visual aspects of the tradition, many lament that the spirit
of the dance has been lost.
Nonetheless, the important labour of revival undertaken by
the island's youth must be applauded in a world where glittering
technology has so quickly replaced tradition. Ibiza
today boasts over twenty folk dance groups called collas
whose members don the traditional dress of their forebears,
produce music with 4 or 5 age-old instruments and retrace
the steps that have emerged from the matrix .
To really understand Ibicenco folk dancing - its origin, its
evolution and its role in present day island society - one must
travel back to the Middles Ages (spanning both the Islamic
and the Christian cultures) when Ibiza was primarily an agricultural
society. Island inhabitants had few distractions apart
from the sowing and reaping of farm life and, for centuries,
xocotes, or informal fiestas, provided a social framework for
human interaction and celebration. Xocotes were generally
spontaneous rural gatherings where Ibicencos found joyous
release from their daily toil through popular song and dance.
The inevitable encroachment of modern life that came with
tourism brought about an abrupt shift from the slow, agrarian
based economy to a fast paced, business orientated economy.
In the space of only twenty years, the island's social structures
and day-to-day activities, which had literally been ingrained
over millennia, were completely altered.
Threat To Tradition
By the early 1960's, folklore was on the road to oblivion as
go-go dancing arrived, Elvis Presley and The Beatles instituted
themselves as icons of modernity, even in a society as remote
as Ibiza. The situation quickly became critical as only a
few families conserved the ancient knowledge of folk dancing,
the craft of carving instruments from wood and the confection
of typical apparel.
Interestingly, prior to this state of affairs (in the early 1950's),
the Council of Culture had begun to organise folk dancing
teams to compete at national and international level. These
teams met with great success, consistently winning first and
second prizes at folk festivals all over Spain and Europe. However,
being made up of relatively few members, this endeavour
encompassed only a small slice of the island's native population.
Moreover, the teams were entrenched in a certain
aloof officialdom, their sole focus being to compete in off-island
performances. Not even dress rehearsals were practised
in public.
By the mid-60's, the irony of 'exporting' a virtually extinct culture,
while excluding its heirs from the revival, became apparent
to all. As spontaneously as flowers bloom in spring, collas
began sprouting up in every township across the island. In fact,
Santa Eulalia's principal colla is called es Broll ('the Sprout'), a
reference to the rebirth of popular Ibicenco culture.
The very first colla to form was the Aires de s'Atalaya of Sant
Josep. They organized bi-weekly demonstrations of ball
pagès, which, with the collaboration of local tour operators,
became quite popular with tourists. Most collas have followed
this precedent and currently stage regular folklore exhibitions
in most of the island's towns and villages.
About The Dance
In ball pagès, the roles of men and women are clearly differentiated.
The woman is submissive, keeping her arms close
to her body and her gaze fixed on the ground - never on her
partner. With short, quick steps she traces a pattern of circles
around her male counterpart. The man, on the other hand, is
not bound by any pre-determined steps. Rather, he tries to
demonstrate with jumps and kicks, his strength and masculinity
in order to win the favour of the woman. (In traditional Ibicenco
courtship, it is the woman who chooses her husband
from various possible suitors, a custom we will deal with in
coming editions.)
The image of the Ibicenco woman in customary dress has
been likened to Punic terracottas (for example, figures of
Tanit), whose triangular form and distant air keep men ever
questing. The man is often compared to the rooster. Old documents
speak of a now extinct Ball des Gall (Dance of the Cock), and, indeed, the red cap, scarf and tassel of the belt
are reminiscent of the rooster's crest, wattles and tail feathers.
As previously mentioned, the dances were the product of
a rural farming society which depended on water for its survival.
Due to the preciousness and scarcity of this element, a
fervent water cult had already developed in pre-Christian
times. The desire to pay homage to this life-giving liquid gave
rise to ritualized dances around wells and springs where
prayers for fertile lands and plentiful harvests were offered up
to the heavens.
The custom of dancing around wells and
springs has also been revived today in events called ballades,
although a good deal (but not all) of the superstition has been
lost. In ancient times, dancing was also used to render homage
to the moon and the stars as well as in the celebration
of weddings.
Underlying Influences
Ibicenco music, even more than the dance itself, is undeniably
Arabic in character. Song lyrics are barely intelligible as
syllables are cut short, the words no more than a murmur in
an archaic and haunting melody. The Catalan Conquest in
1235 brought about the Christianisation of many of these rituals,
although the pagan origin of the dances is distinctly palpable
beneath the veneer of medieval European trappings.
Instruments
The base of Ibicenco music is wind and percussion. All instruments
are both made and played exclusively by men,
and, curiously, there are no string instruments. Formerly, each
instrument was hand-crafted by its player, and great pride
was taken in the carving of decorative motifs on the drum
and castanets. Today, however, only a very few elderly craftsmen
remain who remember the age-old technique of instrument
making. In light of this decline, the Island Council has
created workshops so that the old masters can pass down
their skills to younger apprentices.
At present, ball pagès generates high enthusiasm among
Ibicencos of all ages. Colla organizers are pleased to see the
resurrection of island culture. Their only misgiving is that folk
music and dance, once a living part of popular culture, has
become somewhat frozen in its evolution.
Sadly, ball pagès is
no longer the spontaneous, intrinsic expression of joy that it once was; instead, it has been relegated to the status of an
extracurricular activity, a hobby of sorts.
Xicu Bufi and Antonio Mari, both of whom helped in the research
of this article and both experts in the field, expressed
the common conviction that the glamour and spectacle inherent
in staged productions of ball pagès actually rob it of
its true beauty, which is simple, unassuming and deeply rooted
in nature.
Common Dances
What follows is a brief description of six of the most common
dances still performed today:
- sa Curta (the short dance) is so called because it is of
short duration. It was danced by community elders to initiate
festivities and to give permission to the others to start dancing.
It is a slow dance.
- sa Llarga (the long dance) is the opposite of sa Curta.
The young people show their energy with a much faster
rhythm.
- sa Filera (the line dance) involves one man
and three women in a row. It seems to have
been a wedding dance in which the bride is accompanied
by her two maids of honour. The
rhythm is the same as sa Llarga.
- ses Dos Balladores (the two dancing
ladies) is another variation of sa Llarga in
which the man courts two women alternately
without deciding upon either. In the end,
he kneels down between the two female
dancers.
- es Canvi de Parella (the change of partners)
is also based on sa Llarga. Two male
dancers position themselves so as to be able
to change partners without interrupting
the symmetrical circles of
the female dancers.
- ses Nou Rodades (the dance of
the nine circles) is perhaps the most beautiful and impressive of the dances and is the culminating dance at nuptial festivals.
The newlyweds trace several circles, successively separating
and then rejoining at a central point where they touch
forearms and elbows. After the sixth circle, the bride shows her
wedding rings (24 in all) given to her by the groom.
The Instruments Used
- 1) es Tambor (the drum) is made from the trunk of a fig tree
which is hollowed out with fire and fitted with a rabbit skin.
- 2) sa Flauta (the flute) is made from a branch of oleander
and has three holes.
- 3) s'Espasi (the sword) is the only metallic piece in island
music and adds a certain stridency of sound.
- 4) ses Castanyoles (the castanets) are probably the most
unusual feature of Ibicenco music due to their large size and
the sound they make (like horses hooves). Made from the
root of the juniper tree, they are used by the man,
not the woman as in Andalusian flamenco
dancing.
- 5) sa Xeremia is a wind instrument made
from reeds and was used mostly by shepherds.
At the British Museum in London
there is an identical item - the Egyptian
maid.
By Emily Kaufman
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