Café looks into the art form that is particularly popular at this time
‘Zem Zem Zemado, Meenalya Porsan Ambado’ is
one of the verses recited as an accompaniment to the Fugdi dance form. The art
form dates back to the primeval cultural traditions of Goa. It is performed
during various religious and social occasions. “Earlier, Fugdi used to be
practised only at the time of Ganesh Chaturthi, during the month of Bhadrapada.
However, the scene today is different as there are various Fugdi competitions
organised throughout the year,” informs Pournima Kerkar from Sattari.
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Priya Naik, from Panjim, who actively
participates in Fugdi competitions says, “Maybe just to stave off boredom from
the daily monotonous routine, housewives of earlier times would get together
and involve themselves in this folk dance. This dance is beneficial to one’s
health, and also improves one’s mental concentration, as it contains fast and
low dance moves.”
In general, the meaning of Fugdi is ‘women
singing and dancing while enacting varied formations – in a circle or in rows’.
The women in the villages dance the Fugdi in circles, and women in settlements
formulate rows. There are various types of Fugdis practiced in state. Some of
these include ‘Girki’, ‘Bus Fugdi’, ‘Kalashi Fugdi’ and ‘Katti Fugdi’. These
folk dances performed by women are mainly visible in the parts of
Sattari-Valpoi. During Chavath, one can witness many of these, especially
Kalashi Fugdi.
“Communities such as Gawda, Velip and Kunbi
are mostly into these dance forms and they can be witnessed towards Canacona,”
says Siddesh Kamulkar, an editor of the Konkani monthly magazine: Nirman.
Surel Tilve from Ponda says, “Women perform
these various ‘Fugdyo’ at the temples in Nageshi and Mahalaxmi. However, they
are seen performing late at night when the idols are kept near the pond at the
time of festival.”
“Though there is no percussion supporting
the dance, the dancing ensues to the rhythm of claps and foot tapping, and word
‘Foo’ is repeated constantly; which is believed to be the source of the name
Fugdi,” says poet , Sindhu Assoldekar.
The Kalshi Fugdi began with the monotony of
the routine of fetching water from long distances. The women would dance their
way out to the water-holes while blowing into the empty pitchers. Katti Fugdi
is another popular form, performed by using coconut shells in the dancer’s
hands,” says Assoldekar.
These folk dances are predominantly
performed by the ‘Kashtakari’ Samaj. “These are preserved by Adhivasi Dhangar
Samaj. They depict the moves of cattle and sheep as per their occupation. In
the recent past, even the Brahman Samaj started the practice of Fugdi for
religious festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi, Mangalagouri and Mahalaxmi Vrat,”
says Pournima.
