Perhaps nowhere even in urban Punjab would you see such a fervor for the local folk dance Giddha as you would see in the Bay Area.
Six local Giddha teams get together with teams from LA, DC, Dallas and Seattle to participate in the 2nd Annual West Coast
Giddha Competition. This competition is an opportunity for the community to come together and celebrate the beauty and spirit of the Punjabi culture. This event serves as a night to celebrate the rich tradition of Giddha and Punjab.
The competition this year will take place on May 22, 2010 at 6:00 P.M. at the state-of-the-art Castro Valley Center for the
Arts in Castro Valley, CA. This year about 20-25 teams could be submitting applications for the competition. Months of preparation, long practices, and devotion make the competition highly competitive.

Saturday May 22, 2010
5:00 PM
Castro Valley Center of Arts
19501 Redwood Road, Castro Valley CA 94546
Parking is available next to the theatre.

There is unfortunately a $20 ticket to the event; However the Tor Punjaban Di™ II Committee claims that it will also use portions of the proceeds from the event to help fund youth events and organizations, aiming to promote education and awareness of the Punjabi culture via music and dance. As well they have already pledged to financially assist out of state teams that qualify for the competition. Tickets will be sold at locations throughout the Bay Area.

Giddha is a popular folk dance of women in Punjab and exhibits teasing, fun and exuberance of Punjabi life. The dance is derived from the ancient ring dance and is just as energetic as Bhangra and at the same time it manages to creatively display feminine grace, elegance and elasticity. Giddha is essentially danced in circles. Girls form rings and one of the dancers sit in the centre of this ring with a dholki (drum).

The vitality of Bhangra can also be seen in the Giddha dance of the women of Punjab. This dance translates into gestures, bolian-verses of different length satirizing politics. The dancers enact verses called bolis, which represent folk poetry at its best. The subject matter of these bolis is wide ranging indeed – everything from arguments with the sister-in-law to political affairs figure in these lively songs – bolis can also cover themes from nature to excesses committed by the husband and his relatives, some talk about love affairs to the loneliness of a bride separated from her groom.

No musical instruments except perhaps a dholak accompanies Giddha and provides the rhythm for the dance. The distinctive hand-claps of the dancers is a prominent feature of this art-form. Giddha is a very vigorous folk dance and like other such dances of Northern India is taxing on the legs of the artists. (from Sikhwiki)

Some pictures of the event from last year (copyright G&H Studio)