The performances of folk artistes, rural performers, folk musicians and folk dancers are continued here at ongoing Pakistan Week to mesmerize the audience of twin cities till June 9.
For providing healthy entertainment to the visitors, the performers color the grounds of Lok Virsa regularly in evening. Folk dancers, attired in beautiful regional costumes are seen giving their exotic performances at the venue.
They include Gata Ghora dance party from Multan, Leva dance party from Balochistan, Sindhi dance group from Karachi, cultural dance party from Gilgit Baltistan and Khattak dance party from Peshawar.
Among them, Leva and Khattak dancers are the most prominent. Leva (camel dance) entertains the onlookers regularly with their distinctive attire and unique dance moves. It is a Baluchi dance of Sheedi origin, performed mostly by a group of people in a circle with hand movements. It always includes a Surna and Dohol.
Khattak dance is a swift martial sword-dance performed by the tribesmen from the agile Khattak tribe of Pashtuns in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Besides dances, a young female artiste from the beautiful Kashmir valley, Bano Rehmat, known as `Kashmir nightingale’ is attracts visitors through her melodious tunes.
The event has been arranged by Federal Ministry of National Heritage and Integration in collaboration with Lok Virsa (National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage).
Talking about folk music, Lok Virsa’s Executive Director Khalid Javaid said “Pakistan is extremely rich in folk music. It includes folk songs, folk dances, folk tales, epics, folk romances, children’s songs and children’s game songs. The children’s songs vary from region to region and from community to community within the same region and encompass many game songs. One finds here a remarkable continuity of traditions, some of which date back thousands of years to the ancient civilizations of Mehergarh, Moenjodaro, Harappa and Gandhara”.
He said “the folk songs express the people’s inner and most powerful feelings and ideas, which the ear reveals to mind thus having an elevating, influence on human minds. It is not only the expression of art but also portrays the harmony of happy living. Folk song has been passed on orally through generations by way of the traditional peasant singers, mystic and wandering gypsies. In Pakistan, people belonging to different classes, tribes, trades and occupations have their distinctive treasures of songs”. Khalid Javaid maintained that folk dances of Pakistan are generally associated with festive occasions or the seasons of harvesting and the coming of spring but there are some which are danced any time of the year. Some of them are danced purely by men and others only by women. There are few mixed dances in Pakistan. The popular folk dances include bhangra, luddi, gidda, leva, jhoomar, khattak dance, etc.
The folk music constitutes an integral part of cultural life of the people of Pakistan. It includes folk songs and folk dances. Folk songs speak for the popular emotions and sentiments which emanate direct from the core of the heart of the people. These songs differ in tone, tenor and accent of language from region to region but their central themes invariably resemble with each other. This is due to unbreakable cultural ties of the people as a whole, he said.
The major features of the Pakistan Week celebrations include an exhibition of cultural heritage, art and craft bazaar, folkloric song and dance performances, cultural evenings, traditional floats representing all federating units, installation of 24 entrance gates on highways and busy roads, decoration and beautification of different chowks and roundabouts on various themes, stage plays and special attractions for families and children.
