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Folk Dance is universally accepted as the people�s dance form and is performed at social functions. There is little or no training given to dancers as the art of folk dance passes from generation to generation, as every child of the community is encouraged to learn it when elders are dancing. The dancers get captivated by the local or traditional music and the musicians and dancers complement each other for their performance. The talent and the imagination of the dancers greatly influence their performance. Some dances are performed individually by men and women whereas in some men and women dance together. Each form of dance is performed with its own specific rhythm, costumes and expressions coupled with energy and experience.
In general this dance form is not taken very seriously for professional stage performances, as most of the folk dances have little or no commercial value. Also since the folk dancing does not have any governing or promotional body, it is controlled by none. It is inherited from past traditions and so new dancers often dance by merely observing the steps of veterans. In some places, these folk dancers (basically villagers or tribal people) form a team and travel many places to display their talent.
Folk dances are performed at every cultural occasion like festivals, marriages, welcome to guests, to celebrate harvest season and arrival of other seasons and religious functions. It was naturally developed over a very long period extending to generations and generations and was not created or designed arbitrarily by a single person or group of people. Folk dances are also known by many other names such as ethnic dance, traditional dance, street dance or vernacular dance.
A Folk Dance is unique in the sense that every community/ state/ country has its own form of folk dance.
Following dances though originated as folk dances, have captured the imagination of contemporary dancers and have been developed as the dance craze of holliwood.
- Argentine Tango
- Circle Mixers
- Scandinavian
- Scottish (Country/Folk) Dancing
- Vintage, Hambo and Alpine
As the folk dance reflects the traditional life of the people of a country it is given high importance by the governments of countries and is show cased in functions such as film festivals, Independence Day function and so on. Anyone can learn a fork dance with little effort as these are developed as the natural dancing instincts of human beings.
Nowadays many people are of the view that dance is something that can be performed only on stage and that it has to be learnt in a dance studio. And they watch the dance shows on TV with eagerness. The social dancing that mostly gets into the silver screen is the nicely choreographed performance of well practiced dancer/s. This TV art form is completely different from real folks dance, that is performed on the ground of a village.
Even today Folk Dance is regularly performed in most of the the rural areas of the country. It is high time that the urban public should educate themselves of this public dance and patronise this ailing traditional dance form.
Folk dances gives more pleasure, vitality and a belonging feeling than other types of dances. In short folk dance is not only a dance but is an identity and bonding force of a rural community and is its pride. |
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