Chang Dance

Understand

Where Chang Dance comes from

Chang is a folk dance of Rajasthan and the adjoining Saurashtra / Kutch region of Gujarat, with documented practice in the Shekhawati and Marwar districts of Rajasthan. The dance is named after the small wooden changs (sticks) that the dancers hold in each hand and strike against partners' sticks in coordinated patterns. Performed at Holi, weddings and at the harvest festivals, Chang is one of the most widely diffused stick-dances of western India and is closely related to the Gujarati Dandiya Raas as well as the Marathi Gair. The form is performed by men and women in mixed circles, sometimes with a small lead singer calling the patterns.

How it's practiced

Chang is performed by men and women in a circle, each holding a small wooden chang (stick) in each hand. The dancers move in coordinated steps around the circle, striking their own sticks together and then the sticks of their partners in complex rhythmic patterns, with the lead singer calling the changes. The dance is performed at Holi, at weddings and at the Pola and harvest festivals, and is sometimes extended into a competitive showdown between villages. Costume is the everyday Rajasthani dress — colourful ghagra-choli for the women, dhoti and angarakha for the men. Music is provided by the dhol and the songs sung by the participants.