Since 2 years I am a member of a fire devil team in Catalunya (Spain)....
A while ago I wrote already an article about this team in Dutch.
Yesterday I had a Thought....Not everybody on FPM understands Dutch, so a piece of text in English about Ball De Diables De L´Arboç will be welcome....?
Well Here it is.....enjoy !!!
BALL DE DIABLES DE L'ARBOÇ As it is known nowadays, Ball de Diables (dance of devils) shows the fight of Good (represented by an Angel) against Evil (a group of characters disguised as devils). Probably it comes from medieval religious theatre. In 1846 we find the first text about a Ball de Diables in l'Arboç: it tells us the Town Council had bought new clothes for the devils, therefore we can think they existed before.
Continuity shows up in our Ball. It has taken part in all feasts in l'Arboç, except during war periods. Nowadays, it is one of the signs of popular culture that identifies our town. Just like all devil dances in Catalunya, we loaf about the streets during the feast: pyrotechnics are carried in a wood charriot, and there is a burner who sets fire to the rockets -"carretilles"- of the devils' fire-sticks -"maces".
Each devil raises his "maça" over his head, while he jumps, and lets the "carretilla" burn until it explodes. Music is made by four drummers who beat big leather and wood drums called "tabals"; three of them are a hundred years old.
Devils' clothes are made of a coarse dress, with drawings by Eduard Vallès, an artist of our town. Ball de Diables de l'Arboç is formed, according to the historic pattern in Penedès, by a group with a fixed number of members, and also many definite and established characters: Llucifer (the leader of the devils), Diablessa (a she-devil), some Borrons, the Angel,... All these characters take part in the spoken dance - called "acte sacramental" in L'Arboç- which represents that fight. At the end of the dance, after the angel has won, all devils kneel down around the Diablessa, who proclaims her power burning a "carretilla" over the devils' backs; this moment of the play is called "Elsa".
Besides the spoken dance, devils recite satirical poems -called "versots"- talking about people and current events in our town. However, the topmost moment in the feast is the "carretillada".
After the performance, at night, it shows Hell. For nearly half an hour, devils burn their "carretilles" jumping around ceaselessly in the town square, while the big sceptre of Llucifer and the pitchfork of the Diablessa are burning their fire-jets and other pyrotechnics.
Fire must not stop, not even decrease. Every year, the "carretillada" is a bit different, because we do not give up novelties that can make it more and more spectacular. But we must not forget its attractiveness relies on devils' effort to keep the fire level all along that time, while drums are beating. Devils seem to be arising from Hell. Since 1981, our Ball has had a children's group, which also takes part in the feast. The first Catalunya devil's meeting also took place in l'Arboç that year. Ball de Diables de l'Arboç has been a leader trying out pyrotechnics, always keeping tradition. For example, there is a "carretilla" called "carretilla arboç", which in this moment is being used by devils' groups all along Catalunya.
DRAC BADALOT Our dragon was made by a popular bestiary builder, Dolors Sans, in 1993. It is a majestic dragon inspired by drawings from the devils' clothes and graffitti on the walls of Sant Antoni's chapel in the town hospital. Its height (more than three metres) mades it one of the most frightful and spectacular dragons in our country.
Its five heads transmit strength and fierceness and together with ten tridents (founded on Llucifer's big sceptre and Diablessa's pitchfork), they give more than thirty fire points. The Dragon has its own four drums,(on the same way as devils dance). Therefore when the Dragon acts alone, there can be eight drums going with it. Nowadays, the dragons' group consists of twenty devils: seven carrier pairs, four drummers, the burner and the pyrotechnics manager. All of them belong to Ball de Diables de l'Arboç, so their clothes are alike. Our dragon takes part in the town feast, and it has also travelled to many Catalan towns and also to other countries.
I hope you like this information, if you have any question please let me know.
Greetings,
Jeroen (Tulipa)
Membre Ball De Diables De L´Arboç
A while ago I wrote already an article about this team in Dutch.
Yesterday I had a Thought....Not everybody on FPM understands Dutch, so a piece of text in English about Ball De Diables De L´Arboç will be welcome....?
Well Here it is.....enjoy !!!
BALL DE DIABLES DE L'ARBOÇ As it is known nowadays, Ball de Diables (dance of devils) shows the fight of Good (represented by an Angel) against Evil (a group of characters disguised as devils). Probably it comes from medieval religious theatre. In 1846 we find the first text about a Ball de Diables in l'Arboç: it tells us the Town Council had bought new clothes for the devils, therefore we can think they existed before.
Continuity shows up in our Ball. It has taken part in all feasts in l'Arboç, except during war periods. Nowadays, it is one of the signs of popular culture that identifies our town. Just like all devil dances in Catalunya, we loaf about the streets during the feast: pyrotechnics are carried in a wood charriot, and there is a burner who sets fire to the rockets -"carretilles"- of the devils' fire-sticks -"maces".
Each devil raises his "maça" over his head, while he jumps, and lets the "carretilla" burn until it explodes. Music is made by four drummers who beat big leather and wood drums called "tabals"; three of them are a hundred years old.
Devils' clothes are made of a coarse dress, with drawings by Eduard Vallès, an artist of our town. Ball de Diables de l'Arboç is formed, according to the historic pattern in Penedès, by a group with a fixed number of members, and also many definite and established characters: Llucifer (the leader of the devils), Diablessa (a she-devil), some Borrons, the Angel,... All these characters take part in the spoken dance - called "acte sacramental" in L'Arboç- which represents that fight. At the end of the dance, after the angel has won, all devils kneel down around the Diablessa, who proclaims her power burning a "carretilla" over the devils' backs; this moment of the play is called "Elsa".
Besides the spoken dance, devils recite satirical poems -called "versots"- talking about people and current events in our town. However, the topmost moment in the feast is the "carretillada".
After the performance, at night, it shows Hell. For nearly half an hour, devils burn their "carretilles" jumping around ceaselessly in the town square, while the big sceptre of Llucifer and the pitchfork of the Diablessa are burning their fire-jets and other pyrotechnics.
Fire must not stop, not even decrease. Every year, the "carretillada" is a bit different, because we do not give up novelties that can make it more and more spectacular. But we must not forget its attractiveness relies on devils' effort to keep the fire level all along that time, while drums are beating. Devils seem to be arising from Hell. Since 1981, our Ball has had a children's group, which also takes part in the feast. The first Catalunya devil's meeting also took place in l'Arboç that year. Ball de Diables de l'Arboç has been a leader trying out pyrotechnics, always keeping tradition. For example, there is a "carretilla" called "carretilla arboç", which in this moment is being used by devils' groups all along Catalunya.
DRAC BADALOT Our dragon was made by a popular bestiary builder, Dolors Sans, in 1993. It is a majestic dragon inspired by drawings from the devils' clothes and graffitti on the walls of Sant Antoni's chapel in the town hospital. Its height (more than three metres) mades it one of the most frightful and spectacular dragons in our country.
Its five heads transmit strength and fierceness and together with ten tridents (founded on Llucifer's big sceptre and Diablessa's pitchfork), they give more than thirty fire points. The Dragon has its own four drums,(on the same way as devils dance). Therefore when the Dragon acts alone, there can be eight drums going with it. Nowadays, the dragons' group consists of twenty devils: seven carrier pairs, four drummers, the burner and the pyrotechnics manager. All of them belong to Ball de Diables de l'Arboç, so their clothes are alike. Our dragon takes part in the town feast, and it has also travelled to many Catalan towns and also to other countries.
I hope you like this information, if you have any question please let me know.
Greetings,
Jeroen (Tulipa)
Membre Ball De Diables De L´Arboç
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