giddha

Giddha (Punjabi: ਗਿੱਧਾ) is a popular folk dance of women in the Punjab region. The dance is often considered derived from the ancient dance known as the ring dance and is just as energetic as bhangra; at the same time it manages to creatively display feminine grace, elegance and flexibility. It is a highly colourful dance form which has spread to all regions of India. Women perform this dance mainly at festive or social occasions. The dance is accompanied by rhythmic clapping, with a typical traditional folk song performed by elder women in the background. Giddha varies from other forms of traditional Punjabi dance in that it does not require the two-headed barrel dhol drum to be performed. Instead, women stand in a circle formation and clap rhythms. A lead woman will recite a boli (lyrics) with a refrain that the entire circle then repeats. The whole form of a giddha song is worked through in this call and response form. Giddha details stories of women's lives, including sexuality.¶

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Giddha”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence.¶

giddha is folk dance, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition.¹¶

The source record links this tradition to 6 external registers, which can be verified through the citation.¹¶