Saptak dance group at Esplanadi stage at 1.7.2014

Saptak folk dance group is from Gujarat, one of the States of India. The group has been performing 'Rass and Garba', the main folk dance of Gujarat. In last 11 years, the group has performed over 150 stage shows in more than 15 states in all over India.

The word Garba comes from the Sanskrit word for womb and so implies gestation or pregnancy - life. Traditionally, the dance is performed around a clay lantern with a light inside, called a Garbha Deep. This lantern represents life; the fetus in the womb in particular. Garba is performed in a circle as a symbol of the Hindu view of time. The rings of dancers revolve in cycles, as time in Hinduism is cyclical. As the cycle of time revolves, from birth, to life, to death and again to rebirth, the only thing that is constant is the Goddess, that one unmoving symbol in the midst of all of this unending and infinite movement. The dance symbolizes that God, represented in feminine form in this case, is the only thing that remains unchanging in a constantly changing universe.

Garba is now being appreciated worldwide. Modern garba is also heavily influenced by Ḍānḍīyā Raas, a dance traditionally performed by men. The merger of these two dances has formed the high-energy dance.

Both men and women usually wear colorful costumes while performing garba and dandiya. The girls and the women wear Chaniya choli, a three-piece dress with a choli, which is an embroidered and colorful blouse, teamed with chaniya, which is the flared, skirt-like bottom, and dupatta, which is usually worn in the traditional Gujarati manner. Chaniya Cholis are decorated with beads, shells, mirrors, stars, and embroidery work, mati, etc. Traditionally, women adorn themselves with jhumkas (large earrings), necklaces, bindi, bajubandh, chudas and kangans, kamarbandh, payal, and mojiris. Boys and men wear kafni pyjamas with a Ghagra - a short round kurta - above the knees and pagadi on the head with bandhini dupatta, kada, and mojiris.

The group is led by Shri Chetan Chandrakant Jethava.

http://www.espanlava.fi/tapahtuma/3D33640C6263B1E8AEC5256BFD6A303C/fi/Saptak_

Here are some performances of the group:

http://youtu.be/kqQeurSp9aI
http://youtu.be/7A70DBzK-vY
http://youtu.be/UCwuPJxnuG4
http://youtu.be/5mX3TLeuNtM
http://youtu.be/YKiz90TYR7U
http://youtu.be/S_vY9lbbhEM
http://youtu.be/jGuDrv9hRKo

Saptak dance group
30.6. and 1.7.2014 at 13:00
Espan lava, (park of Esplanadi, Helsinki)

This is a free of charge performance.