The Entorxes, or torchbearers, accompany the Dance of Death of Verges and help make the skeletons visible at night. Their role connects the group’s movement, the sound of the drum and firelight, one of the Procession’s most recognisable features.
The bearers accompanying the Dance
The formation described in the 2010 catalogue report includes five dancers and five companions: the Tabal —called timbaler in that report— and four torchbearers. This is a group of ten people, whose companions belong to the ensemble even though they do not perform the dancers’ jumps.
The torches help illuminate the group, but they are not the only light along the route. The same document describes dimmed public lighting and street torches; in Carrer dels Cargols, the burning snail shells provide their own light. This is therefore not absolute darkness broken only by four flames.
Costume, rhythm and presence
The bearers share an appearance with the Tabal that distinguishes them from the five dancers in skeleton suits: a tunic and a skull-shaped helmet. Their movement accompanies the group’s formation and rhythm. This role is best understood in relation to the Dance as a whole, rather than as a separate dance.
The flame can suggest fragility and a life fading away. This is a symbolic reading, not a documented historical explanation of the origin of every gesture.
The practical work behind the light
Pere Maspoch remembers preparing, placing and removing torches among the material team’s tasks. The light seen by the audience also depends on this work before and after the performance, shared among people with different responsibilities.
Quim Carolà Marull describes making and renewing torches as craft work carried out using his own solutions. His account does not unambiguously identify the Dance’s four torches: it cannot automatically establish him as the maker of all the group’s torches.
A formation that must be dated
The 2010 description does not determine every future edition. The 3Cat report on 2026 mentions the addition of five torchbearers. We do not automatically equate these with the four Entorxes in the formation documented in 2010.
Sources
Catalogue report on the Verges Procession, Department of Culture, 2010. Interviews with Pere Maspoch and Quim Carolà Marull in the Memòria Viva La Processó project, analysed as part of this research. 3Cat report on the changes in 2026.
