|
'Dance de divertissement' is a popular dance form of the Lushai Tribe dwelling in the borderlands between Assam and Burma and the north-east frontier tracts. These dances are performed during their religious festivals, marriages and death ceremonies. The devil dance is chiefly performed when there is a death in the tribe or when the chief of the village or a member of the royal family passes away. This dance is also enacted to ward off epidemics and to appease their gods during earthquakes, bad harvest, famine and floods.
Performance of Dance de Divertissement
After the dead is buried the Lushais engage in feasting. Once the feasting is over all the members indulge themselves in the devil dances. The performers dance with wild jumps and occasionally even yell out. Their dance is accompanied by the loud music supplied by a species of reed instrument. Bamboos are used sometimes for the dance. Generally, male members of the village only take part in these dances.
Costume of Dance de Divertissement
The performers usually wear hideous masks which are made of coloured bamboo pieces and leaves. The white colour used in the mask is made of powdered rice. Many skulls are made on the forehead of the main mask. The sockets of the eyes in the mask are left empty but occasionally glass pieces are also fixed. Napkins are tied to the ears and neck but nowadays the dancers also wear thin papers of different colours for the ears to give them a fan-like shape. The dancers cover their body with bits of colourful rags colouring them with bold white paints to portray the look of a skeleton.
This article is a stub. You can enrich by adding more information to it. Send your Write Up to content@indianetzone.com
(Last Updated on : 05-09-2014)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Recently Updated Articles in Indian Dances
|
|
|
| • | Amala Shankar
Amala Shankar is the wife of Uday Shankar and was born in Kolkata. Name of her daughter is Mamata Shankar.
| | | • | Indian Dance Festivals
Indian Dance Festivals are organised to appreciation the various dance forms of the country and introduce them to the world. Different place in India is known for its unique regional and classical dance forms and these festivals throws spotlight on these ancient forms of performing arts.
| | | • | Indian Dance Academies
Indian Dance Academies are the institutes offering a comprehensive curriculum related to various Indian dance forms. These academies are playing a major role in promoting various Indian dance forms and also bringing up more dancing talents from the country.
| | | • | Folk Dances of Rajasthan
Folk dances of Rajasthan include various folk performing art forms. The traditional dances of this region are absolutely colourful, energetic, and reflect the culture and society of the people living in the region. Most of these dances are related to some folk festival or ritual that traces its origin thousands of years ago.
| | | • | Folk Dance of Nagaland
Folk Dance of Nagaland reflects the naga tradition and culture of the local habitants. In most of the cases, naga dances are monopoly of men with some exception but almost ever dance is associated with some kind of naga festival or tradition.
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
