|
|
|
|
|
|
Karnataka:
Living in the midst of lofty mountains of the Himalayan ranges, these hardy tough people live a life of constant struggle, but they are always happy and enjoy themselves in song and dance which are their only recreation. They conduct many Mela-s or fairs in which people take part to rejoice and dance.
Kolata:
This is a popular group dance meant for men to be performed during festive occasions and religious ceremonies. The Kolata dancers wear ‘dhoti-s’ up to their knees, tie different coloured cloth round their waists and an upper garment to cover their upper bodies and a cloth to tie around their beads.
|
|
|
|
Feet have jingle bells at their ankles and they hold sticks which are 18 inches long. They stand in two concentric circles, each dancer in a circle facing the other in the other circle. In the middle of the circle, stands the leader of the group beating the drum and starts the song with the words ‘Tandana
taana’. The dancers following his cue, start playing their sticks against each other and against those who are against them.
|
|
|
|
The dancers in each circle move in opposite directions, one clock-wise and the other anti-clockwise throughout playing their sticks on the sticks of the dancers facing them.
So they move on and on sometimes sitting, sometimes getting up or jumping, increasing the speed of their movements to a crescendo when all the dancers move in a frenzy faster and faster without faltering but moving in their precise positions.
|
 |
|
