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Jhumar
The Jhumar is a folk dance of the harvest season. Although it shares many
features with the Bhangra, it can be clearly distinguished from the latter
on account of its thematic content and its emphasis on recreating the
gaits of animals and birds. In the Bhangra, there is not attempt to show
the movements of sowing and reaping the harvest; in the Jhumar all the
functions of daily life are recreated and the pairs of dancers who come
into the central area, often imitate the movements of the animals they
rear. Two men become bullocks of the field, a third plough and the fourth
a farmer. The gaits of the animals, the ploughing of the field, sowing
of the seeds and harvesting are shown step by step. The crops are cut
and then the dancers again rejoin into a circle and dance very much in
the manner as of the Bhangra.
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