Miji Folk Dance (Miji community)

Understand

Where Miji Folk Dance (Miji community) comes from

The Miji folk dance is the community-festival-dance of the Miji community of the West Kameng district of western Arunachal Pradesh. The Miji are a small tribal community of the eastern Himalayan belt of the state, with their own cultural tradition of the dance and the music. The form is one of the lesser-documented but living traditions of the Miji community and is regularly performed at the cultural programmes of the state and at the regional community festivals.

How it's practiced

The Miji folk dance is performed by men and women of the Miji 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 Miji cycle and to the rhythm of the dhol and the small regional instruments. The dance is gentle, with the small stepping rhythm of the Miji tradition. Costume is the traditional Miji dress — the colourful wrap and the small regional headdress. Performances are at the village festival and at the cultural programmes of the state.