The roles of men and women are clearly differentiated in our dances. The woman, indifferent, holds her arms close to her body, walking with short and rapid steps, circling around a central point. The man, however, does not have previously determined steps. He tries to show his force and manliness by taking great leaps, in order to win the favour of the woman.
The dances and the popular culture are part of rural, or country, society. The people who lived in and from the countryside did not have many opportunities for socialising or parties.
The songs have a decidedly Oriental sound. The words have to be guessed, with syllables cut off so they fit into the monotonous and unvarying melody.
Christian influence is perhaps the strongest. In 1235, Catalan men during the reign of Jaime I took the island from the Arabs. Its influence is seen in the jewels, the men’s dress and the language we speak. In spite of the Christianisation of the dances and the inclusion of music in the liturgy, the profane nature of the same can be easily recognised.
LA CURTA
This is a short dance. The steps and the rhythm are suitable for the elderly. Generally, the elderly, the well owner with the heir to the house, or the in-laws of the couple marrying – depending on the occasion – started and finished the party with this dance, granting permission to the rest to continue.
LA LLARGA
Young people display their energy with this much faster dance. In almost all the dances, the dancer selects his partner with a bang on the castanets. This gesture, a quite rude way to issue an invitation to a woman, is forgiven at the end of the dance when the man kneels before her. The woman reciprocates with a small curtsy.
SA FILERA
A man dances with three women in a line. It seems like a wedding dance where the recently married bride is accompanied by two friends or ladies. The rhythm is the same as the Llarga.
SES NOU RODADES
This may be the prettiest and most important dance in our repertoire. Parties culminate with this dance and it is a nuptial ceremony. The newly married couple dance in a series of circles, separating and then meeting again in the centre, where they link elbows. After the sixth turn, the wife flashes her rings (twenty-four in total) that her husband has presented her.
THE INSTRUMENTS
The basic rhythm of our music is percussion and wind. It may seem surprising that such a Mediterranean island does not include string instruments in their music. The drum, the flute, the espasí (a metal sword-shaped piece) and the castanets always accompany our dances and fiestas.
THE DRUM
A hollowed pine trunk. The outsides are adorned with carvings or paint, with red and green colours predominating here. The motifs are vegetal or geometric. The skin is made from rabbit.
THE FLUTE
An oleander branch hollowed out with fire. With only three holes, it is also adorned with vegetable and geometric shapes. This instrument requires greater skill, even though composers do not have a conventional knowledge of musical theory or other disciplines and play accompanied by the drum.
THE ESPASÍ
A piece of metal in the shape of a sword. The stridency of the metal backs up the music.
THE CASTANETS
This may possibly be the strangest instrument, due to both its size and its sound. Created from juniper wood, they are carved with vegetable or geometric shapes using knives. While castanets are widely used throughout the Mediterranean, we use the largest ones available. The sound resembles a trotting horse.
THE XEREMIA
Another wind instrument, which was used principally by shepherds. It is created with two young bamboo shoots, with a vibrating reed. You can see an instrument identical to the xeremia at the British Museum in London, which is the Egyptian maid.
Besides accompanying our dances, some of these instruments can be heard at religious celebrations and other solemn occasions. Ses Caramelles is the song played on Christmas Eve. Sa Pujadeta and Sa Calera are songs that are already classics and enjoy great popularity amongst the Ibizans.
THE DRESS
The originality and authenticity of some of the native dress styles offer some samples that are over three hundred years old.
In the different villages of the island, similar to how the exact dance style varies, there are also small variations in dress. We can distinguish between three different types of dress, both for men and women, in accordance with their function and age.
THE BLACK GONELLA
This is the oldest dress for women, probably dating from the 18th century. It is a tunic of knitted wool, consisting of an underskirt, a serge jerkin with embroidered satin sleeves, silver buttons and coloured ribbons. This is topped with an apron, a yellow silk shawl and a cambuix, a lace scarf tied under the neck. It is usually worn with a black, felt, wide-brimmed hat.
Jewels on the dress are silver and red coral. Gold, which was traditionally used, became scarce during this time. The jewels are affixed to the body with coloured, embroidered ribbons.
THE WHITE GONELLA OR WHITE DRESS
A luminous white colour, consisting of the same garments as the gonella (underskirts, jerkin, apron, shawl and scarf), but with some particularities. A hat is never worn. The bride layered on underskirts until their width no longer allowed her to pass through the door of her bedroom. The jewels are made from gold. This was generally the dowry that her family contributed to the wedding. The cross, la joia, hung with eighteen spans of golden braid (6 or 7 times over the chest) and two or three necklaces. The sleeves were adorned with gold buttons. The rings could be in different shapes - the family seal, the heart and key to the house, etc. These were gifts from her fiancee, with a total of twenty-four rings.
COLOURED GONELLA OR COLOURED DRESS
Old women that still wear this dress on a daily basis can be seen in isolated villages. On the day of the town festival, they wear their best dresses adorned with jewellery and then go to the church, following a long tradition.
They have essentially the same clothing items, but the apron is normally long, short if undergarments are worn. It can be accompanied with a wide-brimmed hat made from pita fibres (capell de floc), with a yellow scarf, but never together with the undergarments.
There are also three types of dress for the men.
Recognised as the oldest, it seems to have come from a military uniform, and we can place it next to the gonella. Black holds prominence over white. A large rosary with silver and ebony beads is worn at the neck.
The following is possibly the most popular. Worn for summer festivals, it is made with luminous white cloth and a highly embroidered shirt. The sash has bright colours and the waistcoat has silver button work: 14 or 24 buttons, depending on the man’s wealth.
Lastly, the most modern outfit that disappeared only quite recently, was worn by the elderly. All signs of ostentation have been suppressed here: there is no button work or adornments. It consists of a loose-fitting shirt closed only at the neck that goes over the inside shirt. Dark-coloured, and worn with a silk scarf, generally yellow. Topped by a black felt hat.
All these dresses were worn with handmade pita-fibre espadrilles. The most common colours for men were red and white. Women put much more imagination into the colouring of their clothing. The jewels merit special mention. S"emprendada, a set of gold, silver and coral jewels, has an artistic and historical value much greater than their economic value.
And we could not finish without mentioning the importance that dance, music and dress play within our culture and as an extremely relevant part of our entity.
Taken from the book "Ball Pagès", carried out by the Grup Folklòric de Sant Josep de sa Talaia.
Town Hall 
The Municipality 
