Dandiya Raas

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Raas or Dandiya Raas is the socio-religious folk dance originating from Indian state of Gujarat and popularly performed in the festival of Navaratri.^[1][2] The dance is performed in the Marwar region of Rajasthan too.^[3] The etymology of Dandiya-Raas is in Sanskrit.^[4] Dandiya-raas exists in the different forms, including the collegiate competitive form.^[5] The dance style is now in a competitive format and a traditional format.^[5]

Men and women traditionally play dandiya-raas and the dance operates in pairs, meaning the group must contain an even number. Generally, two lines are formed, with partners facing each other:

The lines move clockwise, and each person steps forward to hit sticks with their partner, then moves on two people. At the end of the line, each turns and joins the line opposite, so the movement is continuous. The music starts very slowly […] It is an eight-beat time cycle called Kaherva and performed in the following manner: on the first beat, your own sticks are hit together, followed by right sticks with your partner, then left sticks (or the same stick if using one). Each one then turns away to the left to hit their own sticks together before turning back to the partner to hit the right sticks again, and before moving on two places to a new partner.^[6]