Ball pagès is the traditional dance of Ibiza, with deep roots in the island’s culture. It has remained largely unchanged over the years. Different groups on the island focus on ensuring its survival and keeping it true to its roots, but controversy has arisen after a video was released showing ball pagès fused with electronic music in an Ibiza nightclub.
A member of a group that fuses techno and Gregorian music sent a message to someone connected to ball pagès, offering 300 euros to two balladors to perform a piece that would combine traditional dance with electronic music. Dinner and invitations to the venue were also offered, but transport was not covered.
This witness, who contacted Periódico de Ibiza y Formentera, explained that he would not accept these conditions, since ‘the Federació de Colles de Ball would not agree,’ and mentioned that the conditions seemed ‘unprofessional’ to him and that surely both the Federation and the Consell would look closely at the case if this show ended up taking place. Regarding this, the singer told him that they had already found two people to perform.
As it is a local club, the video has circulated on social media and been shared among the different colles on the island, generating controversy over what happened. It is not known which colla the two balladors performing belong to.
The Federació de Colles de Ball i Cultura Popular has issued a statement saying that they knew nothing about the matter until they saw the video and recommend that, in future, they seek advice to see if such situations could lead to misunderstandings. As for the young people, the federation points out that they have stated that there was no ill intent and that they respected the culture. It should be noted that a similar incident occurred at another nightclub on the island, where a video was made featuring several dancers and a DJ dressed in traditional jewellery and a headscarf in the style of a peasant woman.