The Bhangra is perhaps the most virile form of Indian Folk Dances. Springing from the land of five rivers, it abundantly reflects the vigor, the vitality, the leaven of exuberance, and the hilarity permeated among the rural folk by the promise of a bumper crop. The Bhangra season starts with the wheat sowing and then every full moon attracts teams of young men in every village who dance for hours in open fields.
Bhangra dance is performed to Bhangra Music, which is based around the catchy sound of large drums called dhols. The farmer and his fellow villagers circle round and round in a leaping, laughing caper. It’s a dance that cuts across all divisions of class and education.
At marriages, parties, or celebrations of any sort, it is quite common for men to break out in Bhangra dance. The music with its impulsive rhythms and pulsing beats overcomes the resistance of most spectators. There are few sights more cheering than that of a dignified elder in three-piece suit getting up to join the young fellows for a moment of bhangra revelry.There are several styles of dancing Bhangra. Sialkoti, Sheikhupuri, Tribal, Malwa, Majha. One of the Bhangra's moves is also akin to the moves of Shiv-Tandav dance, which is danced on one leg. Damru, hand-drum is also used in Bhangra which shows that folk dances and war dances have similar parentage.
The sparkling colours, beats and rhythms of Bhangra compel
everyone to tap their feet in time to the music; hence the expression, "Pump up the Bhangra!"
and brillant Michael Jackson bhangra))
