India | Gujarat

Tippani Dance

Tippani Dance, also known as Tippani Nritya, is a typical folk dance form performed by the women folk of Chorwad region in Saurashtra. The dance was named after Tippani, an equipment with a square wood or iron piece ‘Garbo’ (block) at one end of a long stick which was used for beating and pressing lime into the foundation of a floor or house under construction in older times.

Tippani Dance is a dance form of the laborers who spend their livelihood by breaking stones or leveling the ground to break the monotony of the work. Each woman holding a Tippani would dance in two rows opposite to each other with the accompaniment of a folk song. A unique characteristic of the dance is the vigorous swiftness and rhythmic cadence of footsteps and Tippani stepping.

Zanz, Manjira, Dhol and Shehnai are the major musical instruments used to control the tempo and pace of the movements.

Updated on 12th August, 2014
