nova muixeranga from algemesi

History

There are several hypothesis about the origin of Muixeranga, but the most plausible one according to latest research is that which goes back to an old Moorish dance. Currently, we preserve the three parts of the Moorish dance in our performances: the dance, L'Enterro (The Funeral) and a grand finale or human tower. This last part, due to its spectacular nature, is what has evolved more as time goes by. Nowadays, we are more than two hundred people building around thirty different human towers.

In any case, and lost its origins, the certain thing is that first documents were not written until the 15th century, golden age of our country, when the Muixeranga used to perform during the interval of theatre plays to entertain the audience. Later, in the age of the Enlightenment, in which the Church tried to capture every popular tradition in order to influence the people, the dance of the Muixeranga became part of the procession which precedes the image of Our Lady of Good Health, deity celebrated on September 7th and 8th of each year. The first documentary reference dates from 1733 on Llibres de Comptes de la Vila.

During the 50s and 60s, the Muixeranga went through a discouraging setback in terms of participants number and social acceptance. The participants were people with no money who, paid by the city council and dressed in cloth of mattress material, performed in the processions in order to earn a day's pay.

In 1973 an unusual event happened: the dance of the Muixeranga did not perfome in the first two processions of Virgin of Good Health Celebrations. But thanks to the fast intervention of Hermanos Maristas Association, that year, and in the last procession called Volta General, it already performed. In this way, Amics de la Muixeranga Association was born.

The Nova Muixeranga Association was founded in 1997, integrating women in our dance and with a distant policy with the other group. Nova Muixeranga, with a more dynamic workgroup, has been a faithful representative of the Muixeranga tradition of Algemesi, combining pedigree and modernity.

In addition to important performances in Algemesí such as Virgin Mary of Good Health Celebration (September 7-8) and Muixerangues Meeting (May), the Nova Muixeranga has been an excellent ambassador of building human towers tradition all over the Spanish State (La Rioja, Madrid, Barcelona, Majorca...).

the nova muixeranga