Loading
Loading
Performing Art · Chhattisgarh
सैला नृत्य
The stick-and-acrobatic dance of the Gond and Halba tribes of Chhattisgarh — performed at the harvest festivals in which dancers leap over a series of wooden stumps or stilts.
Understand
Saila is the stick-and-stilt dance of the Gond and Halba tribal communities of Chhattisgarh (the districts of Sarguja, Jashpur, Kanker and Bastar), performed at the harvest festivals and at the wedding of the village. The dance takes its name from the sair (the wooden stumps or stilts on which the dancers leap). Saila is performed in a simple court (the open village ground with the sticks arranged in sequence) and the dancers compete against each other in pairs. The form is associated with the agricultural ritual of the harvest and is documented as one of the most photogenic of the central Indian tribal dances. Saila shares broad features with the Saila Dance of Madhya Pradesh (which I described in the MP entries), though the Chhattisgarhi version has its own regional character.
Saila is performed by men of the Gond or Halba community, by ones or in twos, with each dance running through a sequence of increasingly difficult stumps from the small to the larger. The dancers leap across the open tops of the stilts in choreographed patterns while tapping them with the flat of the foot, displaying control and skill. The accompanying music is the heavy dhol, the dholak and the small drum, with a men's chorus providing supporting shouts and encouragement. The dance is performed at the harvest festivals (Hareli, Pola) and at the weddings of the Gond community. Costume is the everyday Gond tribal dress — the colourful dhoti and the head-cloth and the small jewellery of the Adivasi identity.
The stick-and-acrobatic dance of the Gond and Halba tribes of Chhattisgarh — performed at the harvest festivals in which dancers leap over a series of wooden stumps or stilts.
From discovery to practice
Experience it
Want to watch Saila Dance (Chhattisgarh) performed live? Tell us when and where you'd like to experience it, and we'll confirm the details.
Bring it to your event
Every performer WRIKSH connects you with has been personally verified. Tell us the occasion — a community celebration, a college festival, a government program — and we'll find the right group.
Explore further
Hire performers of Saila Dance (Chhattisgarh) for your event
