Thabal chongba is a
Manipuri folk dance
traditionally performed during the festival of
Yaoshang in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. In the dance, participants join hands in a circle, hop on one foot and swing their free legs across, slowly advancing.
Description
In earlier times, this dance was performed in the
moonlight accompanied by
folk songs. The music is
rhythm
Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular re ...
ic beating of
drums accompanied by other instruments. It is performed in every locality on all the five days of the festival. As soon as the moon rises over the hills, the
flute, drums and
cymbals
A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...
start. The boys and girls in a circle clutch each other's hands with rhythms of music slow and fast, high and low, up and down. If the number is great they may form two or three rows so that everybody and anybody can participate in the dance.
See also
*
Circle dance
Circle dance, or chain dance, is a style of social dance done in a circle, semicircle or a curved line to musical accompaniment, such as rhythm instruments and singing, and is a type of dance where anyone can join in without the need of par ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thabal Chongba
Indian folk dances
Meitei culture
Meitei folklore in popular culture
Circle dances