Jharkhand’s folk dance- art, emotion and culture!
“यह उम्र का नहीं हुनर का इम्तिहान है, जब जुनून बोलता है तब सिर्फ पैर थिरकते हैं . I can never be tired to dance because it’s my passion.” Murmuring theses words to her, Radhika mustered up all her courage and stood up on her feet again. She was 45 yet her passion to dance was not less than a girl of five. Jharkhand has always been the hub of varied culture and traditions. The beauty of this state lies in its culture and one of such beauty and specialty is the cultural and folk dance tradition of Jharkhand. Right now, Radhika was on stage after 2 long years and she had to make her comeback the best one because she was on stage to represent the tradition of Jharkhand.
Due to a major accident Radhika was restricted from dancing fir 2 years now but she wished to get back as soon as possible to the one thing that she loved the most. Radhika had devoted all her life to dance. She was from a small town in Jharkhand with almost no facilities but this never stopped her.
As a child she was always very fascinated by the rich culture of Jharkhand in terms of dance. She was always very keen to learn the various dance forms prevalent in Jharkhand. She did all she could to learn and tried to make people aware about them through her journals. She beautifully penned down about various dance forms some of which were:-
1. SADANI is performed by SADAN community during harvest season, marriage ceremonies or festivals.
2. JHUMAIR is performed on the sound of Mandar, Dhol, Nagara, Bansi, Shehnai and Dhak by the SADAN people. JHUMAIR is a broad dance form where men as well as women perform it separately.
3. MARDANA JHUMAIR is performed by Nagpuri men wearing ghunghroos and holding swords while they dance in circles.
4. JANANI JHUMAIR is performed by women.
5. DOMKACH is a dance form which is performed by the families of bridegroom during marriages. Its lyrics are satirical.
6. LAHASUA is performed by both men and women together on the bests of Dhol, Mandar and Bansi.
7. FAGUA is a very famous dance form performed during the festival of FAGUA on Dhol and Bansi by women and men.
8. PAIKA is a Nagpuri ceremonial martial dance form where men wearing ghunghroos and holding swords and shield dance together.
9. But personally, Radhika’s favourite was CHHAU nritya which is a semi classical Indian dance form. Also, it is a martial, tribal folk traditional dance.
10. Also, she very well differentiated between the tribal forms that included the SANTHALI dance performed during harvest season on Madal and Nagara;
11. KURUKH dance performed by KURUKH tribe divided under DUDHIYA and KHADDI; and
12. MUNDARI dance form performed during harvest season on Madal and Nagara divided under JADUR and JENA.
She did her best to popularize the culture of Jharkhand. And now for the final show she murmured to herself, “कभी रजामंदी तो कभी बगावत है नृत्य, मोहब्बत राधा की है तो मीरा की इबादत है नृत्य.” And she danced with all her passion like no one was watching. She danced to express, to impress and to popularize the culture of Jharkhand.