Entities and cultural traditions in Santa Susanna

Esbart dansaire (dance group) of Santa Susanna
The 'esbart dansaire' finds its roots in the nineteen fifties, when a group of youngsters from a small village in Catalonia decided to present the dances of their lands at all of the festivals in the village and surroundings. There are now two dance groups: one of veterans and the other of children. Their purpose is to perform traditional dances of Catalonia from the high mountain areas to the dances related to the sea and fishing, to the vine-making or the more ceremonious dances, but always maintaining the purest loyalty to the dance and original costume. Another of its illustrations was to recover the “Contrapàs de Santa Susanna”, the only dance originating from the town.

The giants of Santa Susanna
Sidru and Susanna are the giants of Santa Susanna. They were the result of the efforts of the dance group of the town. They are a symbol to remind us of the history of the town and its identity. Sidru weighs thirty kilos and is three metres high, and Susanna weighs twenty-eight and is ten centimetres shorter than her partner.
They were presented to the town and were baptised with their names on 26th July 1998, coinciding with the opening act of the two new bells of the parish church. Since that day, in the villages where they go they represent a young woodman from the forests of Sta. Susanna and a young lady from the plains, who fell in love on the 11th August many years ago. Their meeting, in the words of the founders of dance group itself, was thus: "Once upon a time many years ago, Sidru and Susanna lived in our town. Sidru lived and worked in the forest. He was a tall, handsome boy, strong and brave, and hard-working. He got up at dawn every day to make firewood and coke in the forest. But he reached the age where he longed for a girl. So one August morning, Sidru put on his newest suit and went down to the village where there was a big party going on. He immediately saw Susanna, a young girl from a country house on the plain, surrounded by the field that her family had worked for generations. She was tall, pretty as he was handsome, and with a smile and blond hair that made his heart leap He sat next to her at the dinner, asked her to dance some sardana with him, and they did not separate for a moment in the evening dance. After a year the married and there was a big meal in the house on the plain. Their home filled with children, making it lively, happy, and a place for many relatives and friends to meet."

La Gracieta
The proof of this love was the birth of the giant who a year later, at the local festival of 1999, was baptised with the name of Gracieta, thus remember one of the hermitages of Santa Susanna, that of the Mare de Déu de Gràcia.

The Big Heads and the Pipe Players
The giants are followed throughout the streets of Catalonia by around a dozen big heads who also appeared that July 1998. And all together they encourage those along the route with the music of the pipes. Today there are around thirty members of the giant group, and seven of these belong to the group of pipe players (six 'gralla' pipes, one 'tabal' and a 'bombo').

Association of Friends of the Sardana of Santa Susanna
The Associació d’Amics de la Sardana was constituted on 23rd April 2005. They organise sardana concerts and dances throughout the year.