written for and played on the modern four-stringed instrument. In Catalonia, about one hundred and thirty cobles are active, most of which are amateur bands. Outside Catalonia, there is at least one more cobla: Cobla La Principal d'Amsterdam. Sardana dance The music written for the dance is a sardana (pl. sardanes), and is usually in two sections (tirades), called curts and llargs, each of which may be repeated in various ways to form the pattern for the complete dance. There is usually an experienced dancer leading the circle. The dancers hold hands throughout the dance: arms down during the curts and raised to shoulder height during the llargs. The introit is a few introductory notes played freely by the flabiolist, typically ending with an upward scale and a tap of the tamborí, signalling the other players and dancers to begin the curts. The first tirada played by the band, called the tirada de curts ("short steps"), is of length between 20 and 50 measures and has a two-measure pattern. The tempo is typically about =112 to 120, in and/or rhythm. It is danced with the arms down: (point-step-step-cross) to the right followed by (point-step-step-cross) to the left. The curts is usually repeated the first time it is played. The tirada de llargs ("long steps") is of 50 to 100 measures and has a four-measure pattern. It is danced with the arms up to shoulder level, and is more lively than the curts. However the tempo is typically slower than the curts, about =100 to 108, with long lyrical tunes accompanied by variants of a dactyl rhythm. The llargs is usually repeated the first time it is played. The contrapunt is played by the flabiolist, and is a two-measure break signalling the last repeat of the llargs. The cop final ("final beat") concludes the dance with a unified movement from all the dancers, still holding hands. A modern sardana dance has the following typical pattern, which shows all the repeats of the curts and llargs: introit 1st tirada: curts 2nd tirada: curts 3rd tirada: llargs 4th tirada: llargs 5th tirada: curts 6th tirada: llargs contrapunt 7th tirada: llargs cop final The number of measures in the curts and llargs, called the tiratge or "run", is important to the players, and may be indicated before the start of the dance (e.g. a "run" shown as 25x79 indicates 25 measures of curts and