Moatsu (Ao Naga dance)

Understand

Where Moatsu (Ao Naga dance) comes from

Moatsu is the post-monsoon festival dance of the Ao Naga tribe of Nagaland, performed at the Moatsu festival (the Ao new-year celebration) in May. The dance is one of the three principal Ao Naga festivals (Moatsu, Tuluni and Ngada) and is associated with the celebration of the new harvest. The form is one of the most distinctive regional traditions of the Ao Naga and is regularly performed at the cultural programmes of the state and at the Hornbill Festival.

How it's practiced

Moatsu is performed by men and women of the Ao Naga community in a circle at the central courtyard of the village or at the open ground of the Moatsu festival. The men and women perform in coordinated steps to the song of the Moatsu cycle and to the rhythm of the regional instruments (the bamboo mouth-organ, the log-drum and the small cymbals). The dance is gentle, with the small stepping rhythm of the Ao tradition. Costume is the traditional Ao Naga dress — the lungi, the colourful headdress and the regional shawl. Performances are at the Moatsu festival and at the cultural programmes of the state.