Himalayan Times (1954)

October 24, 1954

t'jiiiuiiHijait {Times

Seven

waist. Another piece of
maroon coloured long
scarves are put round
their neck and shoulders,
making them hang down
upto their ankles; and
long, rich and beautiful
feathers are worn on their
head dress. The dress of
the girls are similarly to
their everyday costume,
but of better quality and
gayer colours. Their long
plaited hairs are worn in
circlets round their head,
making them like parted
tail of the bird called
"Chahem Fo".

' Zo Mai Lok '
(Lepcha Agricultural Dance-,

Depicts a full circle
of the life of dry paddy,
the form of rice known
to their ancestors. The
'Chakdoon' ■and •Cuckoo'
birds Appear in a parti-
cular time of the year
and tell them it is time
for sowing of the rice.
An insect which turns to
the left and the rght
when making its 'Dwee'
'Dwee' sound tells th<m
it is time for the weeding.
Another insect when chan-
ting stretches its legs,
tdls them that the crop
is ready for harvesting
'J he grain is separated
after threshing, whatever
is left, the young people
meet in the moonlit night
and dance. In this a line
is. formed by youngmen
and girls who move in a
1 in^ with joined hands en
their backside, singing at

the same time in chorous.
The step taken is three
step forward, then balance
on that foot then three
step backward, then balan-
ce then on the firstfoot
again, and then all turned
to their left and so on.
As the dance proceeds,
the rhythm and timo
measure increaseand reach
a very high pitch and
the whole form become*
a thrilling experience to
the spectators and delight-
ful to the dancer them-
selves. The verses^ of. the
song sung with this dance
are short and the. tune
is in a higher key. Some
one starts the song, by
repeating a verfe, the
whole company then sing
that, verse twice over in
chorous after that some
one elce repeats another
verpe. which is sung twice
in chorous in the same
way, and this goes on all
night

•Fen Lok' (War Dance)

Psychological and phy-
sical effects of handling
weapons..-It is-only per-
formed by men and the
agility with which the
men advance. leap in the
air, parry imaginary spear-
thrusts, retreat and go
through the pantomime
of attack and retreat is
very interesting. Also men
dance with swords and
shields, Jbows and arrows
in their hands, ai d add
to the melody by cries
of"Aya-Ho Ho". l>ancing

in this manner owes its
origin to the old fighting
days, when on occassion
of public rejoicing the
warriois were wunt to
. dance < and recount their
deeds of valour to admi-
rii g audiences.

-Rong-Eet and Rong-Nyu'
(Mythology)

The legends of the
rivers Rurgeet and Teesta.
The former being the male
and the latter female.
They are led and guided
by a partridge and a
snake respectively When
they meet they have an
altercation the lady recenta
the male being late. The
male explains it is the
Bird hopping here and
there that wasted his time
by . following him here
and there. The lady would
not listen, then the male
geti> annoyed and says
he is going back There-
upon, the lady coos her
lover.- She succeeds and
arms and arfns they glide
down together to the
plains, the unknown land,
a land of promise. In this
dance two large parties
of men and girls take
part,, representing two ri-
vers flowing down; men
take the part of the male
river and girls take the
part of the. female river.
The. men stand in a line
with one hand on the hit)
and the elbow to the rear
to represent the birds tail,
while the other hand its
(Continued on'pugo b)