Dhalo is a popular folk dance form from Goa

Goa

Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. The dance is performed by women and serves as a prayer of protection for their households. The songs on which this dance is performed are usually in Marathi or Konkani languages and are commonly religious or social in nature. It is conducted over a period of 1 week in the month of Pousha at the onset of winter. On the final day women dress up elaborately and draw caricatures of men.

Dhalo was chosen to be presented at the Folk Dance Festival at New Delhi.

Technique

In this form of dance, 12-24 women dance together in two parallel rows facing each other and and with interlocked arms.

In comparison to Fugdi

Fugdi

Fugdi is a Goan folk dance performed by the women in the Konkan region during Hindu religious festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi and Vrata or towards the end of other dances like Dhalo.-Traditional Roots:...

this dance is performed at a slower pace.