Fair Trail: Kalbeliya
The Kalbeliya dance in most cultural gatherings around Delhi is a common performance these days. The Kalbeliyas, a snake-charmer community from Rajasthan, rely heavily on dance performances for a living.
The Kalbeliya women dancers wear long, black, drindled-skirts heavily embroidered with light-coloured thread and small pieces of mirrors, which draws attention in a somewhat strange way. Black, the base colour of their dresses, make them amazingly elegant. The Kalbeliya dance is one of the most sensuous dances of North India. The women gyrate their bodies to the music of a been (a wind instrument) and match their steps to the jingling of the khanjari (an Indian tambourine) while moving about in spiral formation. The dance is usually performed by a group of two women in the centre of the stage, in turns. The dancers have to constantly decrease the tempo of their gyrations and move to the corners to catch their breath while two other dancers would spin around to take their places in the centre. The main attraction of this dance is that the dancers perform in such beautifully synchronised rhythm that for a moment the audience feels it is the same dancers that continue throughout the performance.
The Kalbeliya women dancers wear long, black, drindled-skirts heavily embroidered with light-coloured thread and small pieces of mirrors, which draws attention in a somewhat strange way. Black, the base colour of their dresses, make them amazingly elegant. The Kalbeliya dance is one of the most sensuous dances of North India. The women gyrate their bodies to the music of a been (a wind instrument) and match their steps to the jingling of the khanjari (an Indian tambourine) while moving about in spiral formation. The dance is usually performed by a group of two women in the centre of the stage, in turns. The dancers have to constantly decrease the tempo of their gyrations and move to the corners to catch their breath while two other dancers would spin around to take their places in the centre. The main attraction of this dance is that the dancers perform in such beautifully synchronised rhythm that for a moment the audience feels it is the same dancers that continue throughout the performance.