September 2005: Catalan students build human Pillar of Four

On Sunday September 25th, the California Kids had their second public performance during the fall gathering (Aplec de Tardor) organized by the Catalan Club (Casal) of Southern California. The California Kids group consists of human tower builders (colla castellera) at the University of California, Irvine, with an international flavor since not only Catalans but also students from Brazil, India, Turkey, Lebanon, Italy, France, and the U.S. are part of this association. During their performance, they built several human towers. The main achievement however was the successful completion of a spectacular “pilar de 4” or pillar of 4 (see photos on our Flickr page), a human tower of medium complexity which consist of 4 stories with one person on each level, and with a large crowd (pinya) at its base. Other castles or human towers completed were: the “4 of 4” (4 de 4) and the “pilar de 3 aixecat per sota” (pillar of 3 raised from the bottom). The castells activity finalized with a practice session for those who wanted to be initiated in the art of the Human Towers.