The Sardana Dance

It was a sunny, crisp winter morning in Barcelona, and business as usual at the office when, all of a sudden, the wooden floor started to rumble under my feet. Down the hallway I could hear giggles and excitement and laughter and some Catalan traditional music. More rumble ensued, until I decided to go have a look.

It was Sílvia Serra´s (our center´s Associate Director and Catalan language and traditions teacher) showing her Rags to Riches course students how to dance Catalonia´s most traditional dance, the Sardana.

The Sardana is often referred to as a dance which symbolizes Catalan solidarity: it´s not a something for those who like to show off. Rather, it´s a manifestation of unity. People put their hands up and hold them together, making a wide circle, while they move their feet in a simple, but gracious way: left, right, back, front, and sidestep. I was mesmerized to see how well our students were dancing and how much fun they were having until one said ´Hey Jaume, join us.’ In what was only a second but seemed like ages, I had to decide: ´should I reinforce the message of solidarity and unity by joining them or am I willing to allow students to see how impossibly clumsy I am when I do anything that resembles a dance?´.

Solidarity is more important than prestige, I thought, and dove into it. It was great fun as as I wasn't as bad as I thought and giggles and laughter followed. It is a fortunate event that no video was taken to prove me wrong.