Badaga (French-Puducherry Folk Dance)

Understand

Where Badaga (French-Puducherry Folk Dance) comes from

Badaga is the Franco-Tamil folk-dance of Puducherry, performed by the men and women of the French-Tamil community at the central village festival. The dance is the regional adaptation of the French folk-dance tradition combined with the Tamil folk elements, in the cultural synthesis of the French-Indian heritage of the former French colony. The form is one of the documented regional traditions of Puducherry and is regularly performed at the cultural programmes of the union territory and at the regional community festivals.

How it's practiced

Badaga is performed by men and women of the French-Tamil community in a circle at the central courtyard of the village or at the open ground of the festival. The men and women perform in coordinated steps to the song of the Badaga cycle and to the rhythm of the small regional instruments. The dance is gentle, with the small stepping rhythm of the French-Tamil tradition. Costume is the everyday Puducherry dress — the French-Tamil sari for the women and the dhoti-kurta for the men. Performances are at the central courtyard and at the cultural programmes of the union territory.