The Dancing Foot [antikvár]

INTRODUCTORYOut of the depths of the night comes the drum beat. Itglows into three simple beats. And then into variations of thesethree beats, accompanied by the emphasis, here and there, of cer-tain phrases of the theme song by diathyrambic human voices.And, from all sides of the village, people become aware of the flower-ing of a dance in their midst. They move towards the arena andkeep time with claps of hands or with the feet. And, the ensemblegrows, involving almost the whole community.This is the atmosphere from which spring the folk dances ofIndia.From Kashmir in the North, to Cape Comorin in the South,from Saurashtra and Maharashtra in the West, to Manipur in theEast, the village life throbs with the natural gaiety which expressesitself in these popular dances.Originating in the harvest festivals of our ancient ancestors,when the Gods were invoked or appeased through magical versesand the dancing foot, the folk dances retain the spontaneityand vitality of much of their primary impulse; the quick of the pri-mitive soul. For, as in the earlier times, man bridged the distance