Energetic, powerful, spirited, and vivacious. These are all words to describe two of the most popular folk dances in India: Bhangra and Gidha. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, a folk dance is defined as “a type of dance that is vernacular, usually recreational, expression of a past or present culture.” (Kealiinohomoku, 2019). Bhangra and Gidha originated in the 1800s in the Punjab region of India by farmers. Both initiated as folk dances celebrated during the time of the harvest called Baisakhi/Vaisakhi. In the mid-1800s, the Bhangra and Gidha dance began to gain its popularity beyond Punjab and it eventually became dissociated from the agricultural cycle, emerging as a regular feature of wedding festivities, birthday parties, fairs, events, and other celebrations. With the change in context came changes in other aspects of tradition. Bhangra and Gidha expanded to encompass not only the dance but now instrumental and vocal music.
Following the partition of India, different regions of the country began to mix and interact their different forms and styles of Bhangra and Gidha. The result was a unique formalization of these two unique acts. Today, the style and form of both has evolved entirely to reflect and emphasize love, patriotism, strength, and celebration. There are several similarities and differences between the two dance forms: dance style, attire, music used, instruments and props involved, elements, global influence, and innovations/evolvement. Bhangra and Gidha have had an immense amount of evolution that its traditional roots are being altered to reflect the diversity encompassing it. Given the numerous styles, all Bhangra and Gidha dancers agree that these folk dances are dances of strength, power, energy, and grace. It’s a dance that brings out a robust feeling of passion and is continuing to evolve and thrive influencing many parts of the Western mainstream culture.
Bhangra (Visual 1), a name is derived from the word Bhang (hemp), is a fusion of folk dance and music that originated in the northwestern region of Punjab, India in the mid-twentieth century. Bhangra began as a unique dance mainly performed by Sikh and Muslim men in the farming regions of Punjab. The dance was used as a commemoration during the time of Vaisakhi, which is theharvest festival in spring on April 13th or 14th. According to an article, “Vaisakhi is both the Sikh New Year festival and the anniversary of the founding of the Khalsa [Sikh community] in 1699 by the 10th Guru, Guru Gobind Singh.” (“Sikhs in the Square – Vaisakhi Celebrations 2019”, 2019). As time has progressed, Bhangra has now become part of major celebrations in Punjab and around the world such as weddings and festivals. This prevalent folk dance is performed to the rhythm of a dhol (drum). In a typical performance, Bhangra dancers implement spirited and keen kicks, hops, jumps, and bends of the body supplementing the short songs called boliyan. Bhangra incorporates the dances of “Sammi, Jhummar, Luddi, Dhamaal, Sialkot, and many more.” (“History of Bhangra”, 2019). Sammi is a dance dedicated to singing about a fabled girl; Jhummar is a slower and more in a rhythmic form that deals with swaying; Luddi is a proper folk step shown in a slow form of Bhangra dance, as shown in the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al4pJmDRysw; and Sialkot is performed with one leg in the air. Due to the swift escalation in communication and collaboration, Bhangra has spread throughout the country of India.
Another popular folk dance that originated in Punjab is Gidha. 
This dance, as displayed by Visual 2, is a female dominated dance on the contrary of Bhangra, and has the same rhythm of exuberant gaiety. Gidha is performed during celebratory or societal events, especially during the spreading of the harvest. The origins of Gidha are heavily embedded in Punjab’s culture and is considered to be influenced from the ancient ring dance; a dance that is evident of elegant agility and energy filled movements. “Bright clothes, rhythmic clapping, and traditional folk songs blend in to transform the dance into a spontaneous display of joy. The legend has it that it originated from the ancient ring dance that was quite dominant in Punjab.” (“Giddha: Traditional Punjabi Folk Dance of Punjab”, 2017). The energy stages and momentum in Giddha are the same as Bhangra’s verve. Giddha is performed only by the females and so the viewers get to watch the feminine poise that female performers bring to the implementation of the dance. The ring dance from which Giddha has taken vision, motivation, and inspiration remains to be performed by ladies by communal junctures.
There are several similarities between Bhangra and Gidha. Both have originated in the northwestern region of Punjab during the time of harvest, Vaisakhi. The vitality of Bhangra can be seen in the Gidha dance, as both require the same energy and elegance. Both of these dances are based around grace and happiness. The form of both Bhangra and Gidha has freedom, expression, and intense facial and body movement. It’s an act of the mind, body, and emotions. Bhangra and Gidha are both popular folk dances in India and continue to be used as the most powerful and fervent dances to have ever initiated. Not only this, the use of bright colors and jewelry are inherent in the costumes of Bhangra and Gidha performers. Both are examples of dance forms entrenched in the roots of Punjab’s culture, society, and creativity.
Bhangra dancers have exceptionally bright uniforms called vardiyaan. These uniforms not only accentuate the effect and flow of Bhangra moves, but are also fabricated to assist and allow the dancers to move around at ease. In other words, the parts of the uniform create the ideal combination of flexibility. Today, Bhangra dancers typically wear distinctive uniforms while performing Bhangra. Men wear a long-
unstitched cloth tied around the dancer’s waist called a chadar, a kurta, a vest, and a pagh, while women wear a salwar, a kurta, a vest, and a chunni. As shown in Visual 3, chadar covers the dancer’s legs and is well tied to avoid the cloth from confining the dancer’s range of motion. A salwar, as shown in Visual 4, is the female counterpart tothe chadar. As the visual demonstrates, a salwar incorporates numerous pleats stitched into the fabric to create a exclusive trouser pant that is tied on the female’s 
waist with a thick string. According to the elements of the vardiyan, “trousers are stitched sothatwhen the dancer performs high-knee and leg-lifting steps, the pleats artfully hang to mimic the effect and coverage of the chadar. However, there are some women that do wear a chadr, kurta, and/or pagh while performing Bhangra.” (“History of Bhangra”, 2019). The kurta, presented by Visual 5, is a long-sleeved shirt that measures to the knees in length.
A sleeveless embroidered vest is worn over this long-sleeved tunic. Both the kurta and chadar are colorful, and exhibit extremely embellished elaborate designs. The turban, called a pagh, and long-scarf called chunni are elements of the uniform used for covering the head. A pagh is worn by men and chunni by women. “Head coverings that reflect the Sikh religion that is predominant in the state of Punjab. They are a symbol of pride, humility, fortitude, and respect.” (“History of Bhangra”, 2019). The pagh is wrapped around the dancer’s head in a very detailed manner, concluding with a fancy and folded fan called turla, shown in Visual 6, that crowns the entire turban. The colorful chunni is creatively worn around a woman’s head and pinned to her kameez (shirt). There are many other aspects to the Bhangra uniform, such as jewelry. To enhance particular elements of the Bhangra dance, jhumke (earrings) and kainte and taveets (necklaces) are worn to highlight a dancer’s facial expressions. Not only this, handkerchiefs called rumaals are traditionally tied around a Bhangra dancer’s wrist to feature their intricate hand motions. All parts of the vardiyaan harmonize and complete the dance because each component has roots immersed in significance, purpose, and involve symbolic meanings attributed to represent values and norms of the Punjabi culture.
The elements of the vardi, or uniform, for Gidha dancers is not significant in amount compared to Bhangra. The traditional dress for Gidha dance is a short shirt called choli with a loose skirt up to the ankle called ghagra or lengha. Sometimes, Gidha dancers may choose to wear Punjabi salwar kameez (a long shirt with loose fitted trouser pants). The Gidha uniform varies in color, cloth, and design. While performing Gidha, dancers wear several ornaments and jewelry such as saggi-phul, as 
shown in Visual 7, that is worn on the performer’s head,anklets, a rani-haar which is a heavy long golden necklace, a braid tassle called paranda, earrings called jhumkas and a nose ring called nath. In addition, Gidha performers carry a chunni which is a heavily embroidered scarf. The traditional dress for Gidha is quite graceful and the uniform and jewelry itself add much charm to the feminine elegance.
Bhangra dance style differs from the Gidha dance style. Bhangra involves speed, coordination, balance, jumps, leaps, high kicks, and rotations. Every step for Bhangra follows the beat of the Dhol and the way dancers’ performers is in the same organization and direction. As you can see from the Bhangra performance done by Soormay Bhangra team at Legacy of Bhangra 2017, the style and energy required to accomplish this dance is clear. Wide leg movements, the use of props, coordination, and rotations all play an integral role in the performance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnePwt5cvQ8) (Hundal, 2017). Gidha dancing style differs in the sense that this form is performed in a circle and involves the pounding of feet back and forth and clapping of hands. Gidha’s form involves the use of facial expressions and intense body movements and is in essence a muscular activity with the elements of clapping and voicing emotions, as shown in Visual 8, Gidha is a very eccentric form of dance because it is a dance that allows women to come together and voice their inner feelings about family, love, and life through singing, dancing, and physical expressions.
The dance involves much swinging, spinning, and twirling ofthe body (Visual 9). According to an article on Gidha, “It is dance of embodied consciousness that awakens feelings, sensations, visions, perceptions, dreams and freedom through the moving body experiences.” (“Giddha”, 2014). This reveals that Gidha involves mind and soul connections through the release of inner emotions through dancing and singing. Gidha involves boliyan, which are couplets that are sung in Punjabi that expresses mainstream situations and emotions women experience collectively.
There are many instruments and props involved in the Bhangra dance. The most popular one is the dhol. The dhol (Visual 10) is a double-side barel drum that creates the beat to which Bhangra is danced to. 
The other instruments involved are the Alogozey (two wooden flutes) Chimta (metallic tongs with bells attached), Dhad (smaller, high-pitched drum), Katos (long stick), and Saaps (wooden instrument consisting of small X-shaped parts that expand and contract), which is the most important prop used in Bhangra displayed by Visual 11.
For Gidha, there is no musical instruments or props involved as the distinctive hand-claps of the dancers is the prominent feature of this dance style.
To conclude, the two popular folk dances Bhangra and Gidha have evolved immensely over time. Today, there are various independent Bhangra and Gidha teams and academies established. Bhangra music routines have started incorporating a significant number of Western influences and beats, many new moves have been fused together, and gimmicks becoming essential to winning competitions. A milestone achieved today is the creation of an all-girls Bhangra teams in a traditionally male-dominated dance. On the other hand, Gidha remains a female-dominated dance that is deeply rooted in traditional dancing with boliyan. Bhangra and Gidha teams take pride in their individual style, whether they consider themselves modern or traditional and many competitions accommodate toward the distinctive forms. Both dances continue to be popular and energetic dance forms that enhance and bring more vibrancy to the Punjabi culture.
Works Cited
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Giddha- Punjab. (2017, December 27). Retrieved from https://danceask.com/giddha-punjab/
Giddha: Traditional Punjabi Folk Dance of Punjab. (2017, April 17). Retrieved from https://www.utsavpedia.com/cultural-connections/evergreen-folk-dance-from-punjab-giddha/
History of Bhangra. (2019). Retrieved from https://learnbhangra.com/history
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Maharajas, T. (2018, February 04). Mani, our senior ‘Turban Maharaja’. styling the King’s College London #Bhangra team last night in their ‘Front Turla’ style pagh!Congrats to the boys for coming in 2nd place at @Official_TBS!#TBS18 #TurleValiPagg #Bhangra #Dastar #PaggTying #TurbanTying #paghdi pic.twitter.com/spnKNnMuR1. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/turbanmaharajas/status/960119859437858816
Muteyaar bhangra sapp made of red tahli wood. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.amazon.in/Bhangra-Chhikka-Kainchi-Clapper-sheesham/dp/B071L8238G
New Punjabi Bhangra Dhol Drum. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/PUNJABI-BHANGRA-DRUM-MANGO-DECORATION-PART-HAND/dp/B07925B9FY
Saggi Phul. (2019). Retrieved from https://myvirsa.com/products/knth1303-saggi-phul
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