Mizo Sake

Understand

Where Mizo Sake comes from

Sake is the Mizo's communal women's dance, performed at the harvest and at the social gatherings of the Mizo community. The dance is one of the documented regional dance traditions of Mizoram and forms part of the women's social-dance cycle of the Mizo people. The Sake is performed by the women of the community in a circle (or in a moving procession) at the central courtyard of the village. The dance is closely related to the other Mizo women's dances (the Chai, the Chheihlam and the Khuallam) and forms part of the broader Mizo social-folk tradition.

How it's practiced

Sake is performed by groups of women of the Mizo community in a circle at the central courtyard of the village or at the open ground of the festival. The women dance in coordinated steps to the song of the Sake cycle and to the rhythm of the khuang (drum) and the small cymbals. The dance is gentle, with the women performing the small stepping rhythm of the Mizo tradition. Costume is the everyday Mizo dress — the puandum (the Mizo shawl) and the small regional head-cloth. Performances are at the courtyard and at the cultural programmes of the state.