The book “El Ball dels Espies” by Vicent Sanz Pérez will be presented on Saturday 28 January at 6:00 p.m. The event will take place at the Fontanelles Hall of the Cultural Centre of Biar.

In Biar, a border town in the southeast of the Valencian Country, year after year, on the second day of the Moors and Christians festival, the Ball dels Espies (Dance of the Spies) is performed. The famous tonada, with the pantomime, the dance, Muhammad and the Quran verses, is currently one of the most emblematic festive events in the Valencian Country. This study, as well as bringing to light the first known transcription of the “Ball dels Espies” –an unpublished work by Manuel Quislant Botella– and claiming the figure of its author, presents a sample in chronological order of the different melodic variants of the tonada, classifies the similar melodies performed throughout the country and makes a comparison between the structures of the different Ball de Nanos and Quislant's version, relating them to certain aspects of the Ball de Torrent. Finally, he provides two instrumentations for brass band and an adaptation for dolçaina and tabalet.