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KIKLI
Kikli is generally popular with the younger
girls. They form pairs and then
the two girls of each pair stand opposite each other holding each other's hands
crosswise. Then they lift their heels and swing round and round on their toes.
The movements gets faster and faster, the upper part of the body bends backward
and the arms remain fully stretched. As the spinning gathers momentum, it creates
an ecstasy and the girls go on and on till they reach the point of exhaustion.
Even though they move very fast, they are very careful to maintain rhythm and
keep singing various kinds of songs about the mother, the father, the brother,
the mother-in-law and about various incidents connected with daily life.
Luddi and Jhumar are also famous dances especially for auspicious occasions.
Luddi is generally danced to celebrate a victory. Dancers lift both arms, hop on
one foot and move in a circle, swinging their bodies and shaking their
shoulders. Though no songs are sung with Luddi, it is a dance bursting with
enthusiasm.
JHUMAR
The
Jhumar is a folk dance of the harvest season. Although it shares many features
with the Bhangra, it can be clearly distinguished from the latter on account of
its thematic content and its emphasis on recreating the gaits of animals and
birds. In the Bhangra, there is not attempt to show the movements of sowing and
reaping the harvest; in the Jhumar all the functions of daily life are recreated
and the pairs of dancers who come into the central area, often imitate the
movements of the animals they rear. Two men become bullocks of the field, a
third plough and the fourth a farmer. The gaits of the animals, the ploughing of
the field, sowing of the seeds and harvesting are shown step by step. The
crops are cut and then the dancers again rejoin into a circle and dance very
much in the manner as of the Bhangra.
KARTHI
Karthi
is the only mixed dance of men and women, which used to be more popular in the
hills, than in the plains. While the Bhangra and the Jhumar are not preceded by
any ritual to a deity, in the Karthi, offerings are first made to a deity, at a
harvest time. This is followed by women leading the processions and singing
songs. The men follow, and then a circle is formed with men and women
alternating and linking hands. The accompanying songs are sentimental, and tell
of battles fought and victories won, of the union and quarrels of lovers. The
tempo of the Karthi is a slower than the tempo of the other two dances. There is
much clapping of hands both singly and in pairs. While no wind instruments are
used in the Bhangra and the Jhumar, a folk Shenai and other wind instruments are
in evidence in the Karthi.
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