Laho Dance (Garo)

Understand

Where Laho Dance (Garo) comes from

Laho is the men's stick-dance of the Garo community of Meghalaya, performed at the Wangala and the Garo village festivals. The dance is associated with the celebration of the harvest and with the warrior-ancestry of the Garo community. The form is one of the documented regional traditions of the Garo community and is regularly performed at the cultural programmes of the state. The dance is one of the less-well-documented but living traditions of the Garo people.

How it's practiced

Laho is performed by men of the Garo community in a circle at the central courtyard of the village or at the open ground of the festival. The men wield the small stick and dance in coordinated steps to the song of the Laho cycle and to the rhythm of the Garo drums (the dama and the kram). The dance is energetic, with the men's lunges and the small steps of the Garo tradition. Costume is the traditional Garo men's dress — the dhoti and the colourful regional shawl. Performances are at the Wangala and at the cultural programmes of the state.