CULTURAL MAP

FOLK DANCES OF GOA :

Folklore bind the present with the past and keep the continuity of civilization. The originality of Folklore have pleasantly surprised even most erudite scholars and litterateurs. Goa has a unique cultural heritage, rich and lively and it is known for several folk festivals and performances. Many castes, sub-castes and tribes mingled in its social texture in our long history and this presents a wide diversity of folk arts that incarnate its traditions, customs, convictions and culture.

Goa has been inhabited by many racial stocks. No other region in India perhaps has had such a wide variety of political regimes. The various rules introduced their life styles and cultural influences of which, the marks are vividly to be seen in the races and the rulers, there have been the in comers for trade and commerce and the men of the armed forces drawn from different cultural groups.

 Goan Folk Art Forms

The diversity of these cultural influences makes Goa distinctive although it shares in a general way the culture of the Konkan strip. Among the innumerable folk dances and forms identified, staged and encountered by the Academy include Talgadi, Goph, Tonya Mel, Mando, Kunbi dance, Virabhadra, Hanpeth, Gauda zagor, Ranmalem, Fugdi, Ghode Modni, Lamp Dance, Musal Dance, Romat or Mell, Morulem,Dhangar Dance, Sanjoao, Dekhni and Zemado.

Way back in 1921, Mahatma Gandhi wrote in Young India "I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the culture of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But, I refuse to be blown off my feet by any".

This sums up the philosophy and the spirit which became a guiding principle in the making of the Kala Academy of Goa, an autonomous, but State-Sponsored Organization setup in 1970.

A long evolution is needed before our cultural tradition achieves maturity and yields variety. The vicissitudes of history did hamper this kind of evolution, but the Goan cultural tradition evolved into a unique mix and it has a longer unbroken though continuously evolving tradition than perhaps any other tradition known to us today. 
During the history spanning over 2,000 years of life, Goa has been shaped by the Bhojas, Shilaharas, Rashtrakutas, Kadambas, Vijaynagar rulers, Adilshahi and finally the Portuguese. 

The changing colors of history have left their multiple and shades on the Goan life. And folk art has not been an exception to it. The traditional folk music and dances have continued uninterruptedly, while the influence of the Portuguese music and dance on the local culture has helped to evolve new forms. This happy blending and co-existence of cultural traditions gives Goa unique character. It is in this context that the Academy's aims, objects and activities are directed at fostering and developing dance, drama, music, literature and other arts and also promoting through them the cultural unity.

Though small in size, Goa produced a galaxy of men and women who excelled in cultural, artistic and literary fields and brought name and fame to Goa. But, most of these Goan stalwarts shot into prominence elsewhere in the country because of Goa's long political isolation and stagnation in the spheres of education, industry and culture.
 

Kala Academy,
Campal, Panjim, Goa.
E-mail : kalaacademy@kalaacademy.org