New Delhi: Ten thousand dancers will be performing the Bagurumba dance at a grand event at Guwahati’s Sarusajai Stadium before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on 17 January.
The dance performance is a part of the Advantage Assam 2.0 summit, a major investment and business summit that aims to showcase the state’s economic potential to attract investors. More than 400 master trainers, hundreds of instrumentalists, and singers will also perform at the event.
“After popularising Bihu and Jhumoir at major events, it is now time for Bagurumba to shine,” said Sarma. He also said the performance will take Assam’s traditional dance form to a global stage.
What is Bagurumba?
Bagurumba is a traditional folk dance of the Bodo community. The tribal folk dance is often called the ‘Butterfly Dance’, a form of art inspired by and dedicated to nature.
During the dance, Bodo women wear the traditional Dokhona with a Jwmgra (shoulder scarf) and Aronai (traditional muffler). The colours chosen are also inspired by nature—green, yellow, and red.
Soft music is coupled with rhythmic movements that resemble the flutter of a butterfly. The music makes use of the indigenous Kham, a traditional drum made of wood and animal skin. Other instruments include Sifung (bamboo flute), Serja (bowed string instrument), Jotha (cymbal), Jabsring, Gongwna and Tharkha.
Bagurumba is especially performed during the Bwisagu festival, the Bodo community’s new year celebrations. The dance is meant to honour Bodo god Bathou, a symbol of the Sizu plant for the community. The dance is passed from one generation to the next, each adding its own touch to the form. Today, the dance is sometimes performed without musical accompaniment.
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Over 8,000 Jhumoir performers last year
Last year, more than 8,600 tribal men and women from the tea gardens performed the traditional dance Jhumoir at the Advantage Assam summit. PM Modi and external affairs minister S Jaishankar attended the event with the ambassadors of over 60 countries. The performance was a tribute to the state’s 200–year–old tea industry.
Women perform the dance traditionally, while men play traditional music instruments. Jhumoir is an integral part of celebrations of tribal communities traditionally employed in tea plantations.
At the event, PM Modi had said that the BJP government was serving Assam’s tea tribes and taking the state toward progress. He also mentioned that the Assam Tea Corporation had increased the wages of workers.
“Especially our sisters and daughters working in the gardens would face a lot of troubles during pregnancy. Now nearly 1.5 lakh pregnant women are being given Rs 15,000 financial assistance… For their good health, the Assam government is opening more than 350 Ayushman Arogya Mandirs,” Modi said at the event.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)