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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.
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