Circles

I met Yossi in Barcelona, and he was a Sardana dancer. Yossi, one of the best Israeli folk dancers in the Bay Area, was in the Cathedral square, taking part in the Sunday gathering.  (Click here  for the Wikipedia description of Sardana).  While the other dancers in his circle were serious and concentrated, Yossi smiled as he gracefully performed the intricate steps.  He was the 'Capitan'.  At appropriate times, he shouted out a command, and the circle switched to a new step sequence.  Taller than most, with sunglasses swung over his high forehead, he was aware of everything in his surrounding, especially the admiring women.  He saw me, I waved, and he nodded.

The band took a break.  He was chatting with friends as I approached.
"Hi Yossi,"  I said, "I have a question"
"Ola" he replied "What's up?"
Not wishing to exclude his friends, I continued with the Spanish, "Your group dances very well.  Is it choreographed?"
"No, no!" he answered with a mischievous, slightly arrogant smile, "We are just having fun."
His Spanish sounded strange.  I wondered whether I was hearing the Hebrew accent, or maybe he was speaking in Catalan.  I didn't have time to probe this further.  The band resumed playing, and Yossi entered the circle and joined hands.  They raised their arms in unison, and started dancing.

I wandered between the several circles in the large square.  I was impressed by a spandex-wearing young group, who danced high on their toes, their muscular calves, evidence of their training.  A beret-wearing catalunian standing next to me, explained that these are the current Sardana champions, and this is their practice session for tomorrow's competition.  At the command of their tall and pretty Capitan, their bouncy steps transformed into very high hops.  The jumping evoked a memory of Kobi, whose dance skill used to be on par with Yossi's.  At that time, he was my mentor as I attempted to learn Israeli folk dance.
"Just jump high", he used to say "and you'll be a good dancer."

I walked back to Yossi's group.  I noticed that the circle grew larger and the new members were mostly older.  Now they seemed content to repeat the same sequence throughout the dance.  Several of them were not even on tip-toes.
"You are an Israeli Folk dancer."  I heard Kobi say, "You can handle the Sardana"
I stood behind the circle and watched.  The steps were  similar to the Israeli dance 'She'avtem ma'im', except that the sequence was longer, and more complicated.  I started counting the steps, but when I reached ten, I gave up.
"Stop counting and start moving!", Kobi's voice commanded.
I obeyed.  I meekly parted the circle between two ladies, who though surprised at the sight of a foreigner joining this nationalistic event, extended their arms with a smile.  At the start, I kept my eyes on my neighbors' feet, but soon, my body grasped what my brain could not, and I just let the rhythm move me.
"You've got it", beamed Kobi.
Before I got too tired, the dance ended with a strong stamp of the foot, and a shout of "Viva".  Within a blink of the eye, Yossi was standing at my side.
"Nicely done."  He said raising his thumb in approval, then moved on, to demonstrate a fancy step to someone else.

On the next tune, the two sweet ladies, my dance partners, called me.  I did not hesitate.  With Yossi and Kobi present, it was just like the old days.  This time, probably as a challenge, Yossi called out several sequence changes.  I was able to follow without disrupting the circle too much.  When the sequence involved jumping, I remembered "Jump high!", and it worked.  A few more songs, and the event terminated.  I was proud and elated.  The dancers picked their 'El Corte Ingles' shopping bags from the center of the circle and departed.  I waved Goodbye to Yossi, who left in a hurry, accompanied by a pretty woman.  I didn't get the chance to ask him what was he was doing in Barcelona.