The Colla Vella Castellers

The last time I went to Barcelona, I saw a television program about castellers: teams of people who build human towers or 'castles', (castell being the Catalan word for 'castle').  It was so fascinating to watch that I couldn't take my eyes away from the screen.  When I would tell people about it, I could tell that they just couldn't quite picture what I was describing.  When I found out that Maple and I would be in Spain, I told her about them, and she reacted the same way, as if I were describing a sort of Spanish type of cheerleaders who build a small pyramid.  Then I sent her a link to a youtube video.  Once she watched it, she told me, "That's really cool."  We figured, if we had free time, and one of these was happening, we would try to see it.  And then I forgot all about it, because we got so busy with work.

But when we checked into our hotel in Valls, there were framed artworks on the walls of the hotel about the castellers.  We asked at the front desk about it, and the receptionist explained that it originated in this town (!!!), and that the local team, called the Colla Vella, would be practicing that night.  It was free and open to go watch.

So after dinner, we tried to act casual as we walked into the gym, and began to observe this major cultural event.  We picked up on right away that this was a community event: every age was there from newborns to the elderly, and everyone was happy to be together and catch up on life.  As we came in, the children were finishing up their lesson and doing stretches.  More and more people arrived, all greeting one another, sharing gossip, congratulating the mother of the newborn, kissing the toddlers, helping one another get wrapped and ready, and just overall mingling.  It was like what you'd see in a small town America county fair or church fellowship (minus the food).

There was a wall of chairs reserved for all these elderly men who were first to arrive to watch.

There were pictures from a recent competition on the wall behind the old-timers, and many people went up to look at them.  This young guy was excited to spot himself in one of the photos, and happily pointed himself out to some of the adults.

Nearly everyone arrived with a special black sash, called a faixa, and they would help one another to wrap it tightly around their lower back and waist.  The casteller would tuck one end of the faixa into his/her pants, while the helper pulled tightly on the other end.  Then the casteller would turn one rotation, reposition themselves so that they were pulling against the helper, and turn another rotation. Again and again until they were fully wrapped and tucked in.  Men, women, and children all wrapped up.

The kids practiced for awhile while the adults continued to show up and get wrapped up.  They'd make a base of three or four, and then a second level would climb up, then the one I would call the "squatter," and then the "topper" would climb up, over the "squatter," raise their hand in the air, and climb back down the other side.  Over and over they did this.  I noticed that the "squatters" and the "toppers" were always the same kids.  And they were between 5-8 years old.

The boy on top, in the red shirt, is the enxaneta, which means "rider," which I thought of as the "topper."  It's always a child, no matter how how high the castell, and once the castell is a certain many levels (3? 4?), they wear a safety helmet with their name on it.  The "squatter" (in the blue striped shirt, just under the enxaneta,) is  the aixecador, which means "riser."  The two who form the level for the squatter to base himself on are called dosos, meaning "the twos."  The little guy in the red  climbed right up the left side, threw his arm in the air, and was over the squatter and back down before you could blink.

Here, you see the squatter (in pink pants on the left) coming up as the dosos are getting in place, and the little monkey of a topper is climbing up the right side.

The teens began to join into the practice, and so this group was probably 12-20ish years old?

Maple noticed that many of them held the collars of their shirts in their teeth.  I wondered if it was so that, as people stood on their shoulders, their shirts wouldn't pull at their throats in odd ways and choke them.  Just my guess.

You can see how much they just climb all over one another.  Using the body they're climbing as a pole, the faixa as a place to grip their toes to go higher, they put hands and then knees on shoulders until they can hoist themselves up.  There is zero concern for personal body space or being touched somewhere you don't want to be in this sport.

Some of them used the pipes on the wall to practice climbing for building what is called the agulla, which means "needle," (more on that in a minute).

There were two different training nets that some of them used to practice climbing.  However, we never saw anyone fall the entire night.

This one, if you don't count the base, called a pinya, meaning bulk, had five levels up!

After we'd been there about an hour and a half, someone pointed out to us that we could go upstairs to have an aerial view.  Just as we got upstairs, the entire crowd began working together to make one of the large castells.  In the picture below, at 3oclock in the black shirt, is a man who we later learned has the role of cap de pinya (captain, or leader of the 'bulk' or base).  He would get the center of the base lined up, in the right position, with their arms exactly where they needed to be.

Then, the cap de colla, ("band leader," or head coach, if you will), would call out, and certain groups would move into position to lock arms.

In the most beautiful fluid motion...

arms went up...

locked together...

...and formed the base for the tower.

You can't see any one person.  No one shines out.  No one gets the glory.  Just the majority of the community, formed together, united for one purpose: to build a strong and sturdy base.

Then, a few strong men crawl on the shoulders of so many to get into position.

Who knows how many arms are holding their legs locked into place, like Aaron and Hur holding up Moses' arms during the battle?

There was a silence in the room as each trained climber, who had worked hard to learn their role, their position, walked across various shoulders until they could mount.

Absolute focus and concentration, with supporting hands exactly where they need to be.

The climbers payed close attention to one another as the tower began to build itself higher and higher.

While anyone in the community could be a casteller by helping support the base, not everyone can be a climber.  You must be trained.  You have to learn exactly how to step, how to grab hold, where to put your hands and feet, how to stand to support those under and above you.

Then, all of a sudden, the needle appeared.  The first one tucked under the arms of the original tower, and stood in the very middle.  Then others climbed up him, forming a straight shot (like a needle), up the middle of the tower.  Those climbing on the inside had an even smaller space to work with.

And the outer tower was dismantling while the inner needle was still building.

This young girl of about 7 or 8 climbed up on the shoulders of a girl about 15 or 16.

Almost there...

And with her arm raised in the air, she signaled that she'd completed the task.  The outer tower was still in process of dismantling.

This man, who was standing on the pinya, was the base of the needle.  He was a BEAST.  To hold the weight of three other people above you (one of which was a grown man), while balancing on the shoulders of of others...wowzah.

Near the end, he began to shake and grunt, perhaps he said some words along the lines of "I can't hold it!"  The man above him and the crowd below him held him up while encouraging him to hold on. 

Oh friends, this is the Church, with the Task that has been given to us to advance the Kingdom to all nations.  There are some who receive all the glory, who get all the attention.  The modern-day superstars of our faith, everyone notices them.  The difficulty of their task, the training it took to get them there.  The way they hold on when it gets so hard.  When they do their best at their position, no one notices the base holding them up, but if that base wasn't doing its part--they would crash.

People who do a certain work overseas could not do what they do without the support of the local Body, forming that solid base around them to hold them up.  Men and women locking arms around and around one another in support.

And when an older generation can't be in the tower anymore, they joyfully join the supporting base.  Still a part of the action, just in a different spot, with a different role.

The castell is not considered successful unless the enxaneta, (the topper) gets their hand in the air, and the entire tower dismounts without a crash.  Sometimes, that night, the whole pinya would form, and as some trying to begin to build on them, they would discover that something in the base was off, and so everyone would step out of the tight circle and they'd start all over again.  Sometimes, they'd mount and dismount all so quickly without any sort of problem.  Sometimes there were multiple buildings going on at once.  But when the whole group came together, it was such a breathtaking sight to see.  They completed their task successfully, and it was stunning.

I pray that my local church and denomination in the US will portray this picture in the days to come: all joining hands together in a tightly knit group, each with his part to play, so that the base can successfully support the tower of trained workers.