The Indian state of Rajasthan is well known in the World for its colorful age old cultural traditions. The Thar Desert of Rajasthan comes alive when its dancers take the center stage. Rajasthan has great variety of dances, which are simple expressions of celebration and festivity. The dancers, the dances and costumes have made Thar the most colorful desert in the world. Each region adding its own form of dance styles and performers, there are dances that follows a lineage of age old traditions, adhere to religious significance, display their daring attitude as well as complimenting various fairs and festivals. Some of the popular dance forms are listed below. Bhavai Dance Bhavai is one of the most popular and traditional folk dances of Rajasthan. It is a difficult dance form that is performed by professional and trained dancers. This dance basically involves women dancers balancing 8 to 9 pitchers on their heads and dancing simultaneously. This nail biting , suspenseful dance, the well skilled dancers balance a number of earthen pots or brass pitchers and then sway with the soles of their feet perched on the top of a glass and also sometime on the edge of a naked sword or on the rim or a brass thali (plate) during the performance. This traditional folk dance performed by the women of the Jat, Bhil, Raigar, Meena, Kumhar, and Kalbelia communities of Rajasthan. Bhavai is performed on several occasions such as marriages as well as on festivals. Ghoomer Dance A famous folk dance of the state, Ghoomer was basically developed by the Bhil tribe and was adopted by other Rajasthani communities. The Ghoomar dance is a particularly a women’s dance and performed by the women for exclusively ladies gatherings. This dance form is performed by group of women moving in circular fashion and in swirling robes accompanied by men and women singing together. The Kachhwaha Clan of Rajputs who ruled Jaipur, defeated the Bhils and later acceded to a peaceful coexistence. It is therefore normal that the royalty would pick up some of the Bhil traditions and practices. From then it get associated with the royal ladies of Jaipur, who perform it on certain auspicious occasions. Chari Dance Chari dance is one of the popular folk dances of Rajasthan, India, which illustrates the art of collecting water in a chari or pot by the Rajasthani women in their day to day life. This dance form belongs to Gujjar community of Kishangarh and only women folk perform this dance. Ladies carry brass pots on their heads balancing it to perfection. These pots are kept ignited with the cotton seeds dipped in oil. These lit pots display beautiful effect in the dark night. While performing the Chari dance woman dance with balancing brass pots (Chari) on their heads and move together and dance on a same sequence. This dance does not have any particular movement except balancing the pots on their heads. This dance is also known as a welcome dance and signifies integrity. The Chari Dance is performed on occasions like marriage or on the birth of a male child and is also performed during festivals. Kalbelia Dance An ancient dance form of the state, Kalbelia Dance is performed by women of the Kalbelia community who, by profession, are snake charmers and trade in snake venom. This ancient dance form has dance movements similar to the movements of the serpents and hence, even the costumes are black colored. Interestingly, women dance on the music produced by the 'Been', an instrument used to charm the snakes. This is an extremely aesthetic dance form which totally mesmerizes the spectators. Gair A traditional dance form of the Bhil community of Rajasthan, Gair is performed by both both men and women together. Here the dancers move first in clockwise and then in anti-clockwise directions beating their sticks to create the rhythm when they turn. This form has two versions; one is Dandi Gair of Marwar region and the other is Geendad of Shekhawati region. Although Gair dance can be performed any time as a type of entertainment, it is performed during any festive occasions. It is especially performed on the festive occasions of Holi and Janmastami, which remains incomplete without it. Fire Dance Fire dance is an extremely difficult dance to perform which is performed by the Banjara community. This dance involves breathtaking fire stunts wherein the dancers perform by holding fire rods in their hands and filling up their mouths with kerosene. The fire rods are also moved on their heads and legs by the dancers. Terah Taal Dance Terah Taal dance is a beautiful musical dance in which the dancers place manjeeras (little brass discs) on their waist, legs, hands and forehead, at least thirteen places on their body. This dance is performed as a kind of ritual to please Baba Ramdeo, a local deity of Rajasthan. Besides these famous folk dances of Rajasthan, there are other dance forms that are equally vibrant as well as entertaining. Drum dance, Jhoria, Matka-bhawai, Kathputli and Raika are the other dance forms of the state that are performed on particular occasions.
