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GIDDHA
Giddha is the
folk-dance par excellence of women. It has almost the same
intensity as Bhangra. It leaves plenty of margin for the depiction of feminine
grace and elasticity. Women perform this dance mainly on festive and social
occasions especially marriages. In Malwa, the Giddha performed during marriages is
called 'Viyahula Giddha'. Hard worked village women sometimes get together on
moonlit nights and dance in tune with nature. It is customary in the Punjab to
celebrate Teeyan in the month of Sawan. The festival lasts from the 3rd lunar day
in the month to full moon. Fairs are held at many places, swings are put up and
girls swing and dance to their heart's content. At such times Giddha is
performed under a peepal or banyan tree. The rainy season is also called the
season of Giddha because the drops of rain and the dark clouds inspire the girls
to dance out their pent-up feelings as nothing else can. Giddha performed during
Teeyan is called 'Teeyan Giddha'. For young girls whether married or unmarried it
is an occasion to look forward to. The newly-married ones yearn to come to their
parental homes during these days.
Giddha is danced in a circle. The girls form a ring. One of them taking up a
small drum (dholki) and sitting in the centre. If a dholki is not available an
earthen pitcher is substituted. The deserved rhythm is produced by striking it
with a pebble. The starting procedure is the same as in Bhangra. One girl comes
forward and sings a boli. As she comes to the end of it, the others pick up the
refrain and join. As the dance proceeds they sing more and more spiritedly,
keeping time by clapping. The girls dance in twos. The dance is stylistically
simple, the jingle of the bells the thumping of the feet and the beat of the
drum creating an enchanting atmosphere.
Giddha is not performed according to any
cut-and-dried rule but harmony is the essence in such movements as swinging and
twisting the body, shaking the shoulders, bending to a double and clapping.
Sometimes four young girls perform Kikli in group of two's. Girls performing
Giddha indicate through gestures the various phases of the life of a Punjabi
woman spinning, fetching water from the well and grinding. Whichever phase they
portray, they sing with it an appropriate boli. Mimicry is very popular in
Giddha.
One girl may play an aged bridegroom and another his young bride or one
may play a quarrelsome sister-in-law and another a humble bride. All this gives
women a chance to give uninhibited expression to their pent-up feelings.
SAMMI
This is a popular dance of Sandal
Bar. This is a women's dance and like the
Giddha it is danced in a circle. The dancers stand in a ring and swing their
hands bringing them up from the sides, right in front, up to the chest and clap.
They take the hands down in accordance with a rhythm and a system and clap
again. Repeating this gesture, they bend forward and clap again and go round and
round in a circle, as the rhythm is maintained with the beat of the feet.
Various kinds of swinging movements are performed with the arms. This is a
very simple dance. Most of the gestures and confined to the movements of the
arms, clicking and clapping. No instrument is required as an accompaniment to
this dance. Rhythm is kept up with the beating of feet and clapping. The dance
is named after the young heroine of a legend, Sammi, who was madly in love and
used to sing and dance as best she could for the sake of her lover.
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