Indian Folk dance of Gujarat

Stuti Aga dance company, based in Zurich Switzerland, provides classes, workshops and performances in Indian Folk dance Garba & Dandiya.

Garba & Dandiya

The Garba of Gujarat is the most popular women’s folk dance of Gujarat as distinguished from the Rasa. During the Navaratra festival,a pot (garbi) is ceremoniously placed in every house;attractive designs are made on the pot and a light is placed within. Village girls bearing their garbis on their heads go from house to house and dance around the respective household garbis or the wooden structure called “Mandavi”. Navaratra rituals comprise the sowing and sprouting of grain.
The leader of the group sings the first line of the song while the rest repeat it in chorus,beating time by clapping hands or striking sticks in unison. At every step they gracefully bend sideways,the arms coming together in beautiful sweeping gestures,upwards and downwards and to either side in order to clap.
The garbas is indeed a ceremony in which everyone can take part irrespective of caste or social position. The dances are accompanied by the beating of the dholak and the vocal accompaniment of women.