Daffa (Sapp) Dance

Understand

Where Daffa (Sapp) Dance comes from

Sapp / Daff dance (sometimes called Daffa) is the devotional frame-drum dance of the Punjabi Sufi shrines and melas, performed at the Urs of Sufi saints (such as Sakhi Sarwar at Dera Ghazi Khan, Baba Farid at Pakpattan and the dargahs of Multan). The dance is associated with the Punjabi practice of dancing with the daff (the round wooden frame drum struck with the hand) at Sufi gatherings and at the celebration of saints. The daffa accompanies devotional songs (Qawwali-style) and the dance is performed in men-only or mixed circles with the daffs held aloft. The form is closely linked to the Punjab Sufi tradition and is older than the more secularised Bhangra in some accounts.

How it's practiced

The daffa / sapp dance is performed by groups of men (and increasingly women in modern practice) holding the daff (a round frame drum about 30cm across) aloft in one hand and striking it rhythmically with the other hand while stepping and turning in a circle. The dance is performed at the Sufi Urs festival — particularly in the western and central Punjab tradition of Sakhi Sarwar and others — and at Sufi shrines. The frame drums resound in layers, with the louder beats marking the dancers' footwork. Costume is the everyday Punjabi dress, often with the traditional peshwaz or the Sufi-style long kurta. The dance is essentially a religious and devotional observance as much as a folk dance.