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EveryParampara

Music, dance and storytelling

Songs, dances, theatre, epic poetry and oral history.

Music, dance and storytelling traditions are the performances that a community passes down by ear, eye and heart: the epic poem recited by a griot, the dance in a circle at a wedding, the shadow play of Java, the ballad of a village, the lullaby of a grandmother. They carry history, law and humour in forms that people can remember. Many are linked to festivals and rites, and many are on UNESCO's lists of intangible heritage. Here they are gathered by country, with notes on who performs them and when.

Songs and dances of the people

Folk music and dance are community property: they are learnt by joining in, not by lessons, and they change a little with every generation. Circle dances, line dances and couple dances accompany harvests and weddings, and instruments such as the drum, the fiddle, the pipe and the lute are made locally. In many places, there are separate songs for work, for love, for mourning and for children, and each has its own time and place.

Stories and theatre

Oral storytelling holds a society's memory: epics, myths, fables, proverbs and riddles told by elders. Some become formal theatre, such as kabuki and noh in Japan, wayang in Indonesia, the mumming plays of Britain or the Ramlila of India, which retells the Ramayana in a month of evenings. These forms often depend on one master teaching one student, and communities and governments now support them to keep them alive.

About this page

Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Music, dance and storytelling (kind of tradition). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
MealBreakfastLunchDinnerSupperTea-time and snacking customsTea, coffee and drinking ceremoniesSweets given and sharedFeasts and festival mealsFasting and breaking the fast
🇳🇱 Landgraaf, NetherlandsPinkpop A three-day pop and rock festival in the Netherlands, held on the Pentecost weekendFestival 🇵🇰 PakistanPakistani weddingپاکستانی شادی Weddings across Pakistan: a match is found, a contract signed, two families joinedRite of passage 🇩🇰 Roskilde, DenmarkRoskilde Festival A week-long Danish music festival south of Roskilde, run by volunteers since 1971Festival 🇮🇳 Varanasi, IndiaHanuman Chalisaहनुमान चालीसा A forty-stanza Awadhi hymn praising Hanuman, said by Hindus each daySpiritual 🇮🇳 India and 2 moreKoothu Tamil street theatre with dance, music and epic stories, staged at temple festivals.Performance 🇮🇳 Lucknow, India and 1 moreKathak A north Indian classical dance of stories, footwork and spins, from temples and courtsPerformance 🇮🇳 Puri, IndiaOdissiଓଡ଼ିଶୀ A classical dance of Odisha, told through bends, gestures and sung poetryPerformance 🇮🇳 Trivandrum, IndiaKathakaliകഥകളി A classical dance-drama from Kerala featuring elaborate makeup and costumes to tell epic stories.Performance 🇮🇳 India and 3 moreBhajanभजनम् (bhajanam) Devotional songs of South Asia, sung alone or together with drums and cymbalsPerformance 🇮🇳 Udupi, IndiaYakshaganaಯಕ್ಷಗಾನ (Kannada) A night-long dance-drama from coastal Karnataka, with sung dialogue and drummingPerformance 🇮🇳 Imphal, India and 1 moreManipuri danceJagoi Raas, Raas Jagoi A classical dance from Manipur, danced as an offering to Radha and KrishnaPerformance 🇪🇬 Egypt and 4 moreOudعُود (ʿūd) A fretless, pear-shaped Middle Eastern lute, plucked with a plectrum called a rishaPerformance 🇬🇷 GreeceSymposiumσυμπόσιον An ancient Greek post-meal gathering for diluted wine, debate, music and lively gamesTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies 🇮🇶 Kufa, Iraq and 5 moreArabic calligraphykhatt (خَطّ) Artistic handwriting of the Arabic script, practiced as a sacred craft and a living visual tradition.Craft 🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreYuri's Night An annual global celebration on April 12 marking milestones in space explorationFestival 🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanCulture Day文化の日 (Bunka no Hi) Japan's 3 November holiday for the arts, learning and the Order of CultureFestival 🇮🇱 Jerusalem, IsraelJerusalem Film Festivalפסטיבל הקולנוע ירושלים / مهرجان القدس السينمائي Ten summer days of films from around the world, held in Jerusalem since 1984Performance 🇬🇷 Athens, Greece and 2 moreDionysian Mysteries Ancient Greek and Roman initiation rites of wine, ecstatic dance and spiritual rebirthSpiritual · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies 🇪🇪 Tartu, Estonia and 5 moreEuropeade An annual gathering of folk dancers, musicians and singers across EuropeFestival 🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreAnastenariaΑναστενάρια A barefoot firewalking and dance rite honouring Saint Constantine and Saint HelenSpiritual 🇮🇶 Karbala, Iraq and 5 moreMourning of Muharramعَزَاءُ ٱلْمُحَرَّمِ Annual rites of grief and remembrance for Imam Husayn and his companionsSpiritual 🇹🇭 Thailand and 4 moreVessantara JatakaVessantara Jātaka A Buddhist festival celebrating the last life of the Buddha as a generous prince.Festival 🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 5 moreKoledariколядники A Slavic winter caroling custom of visiting homes with songs, masks and blessingsFestival 🇵🇪 Mito, PeruHuaconada A three-day January ritual dance in Mito, Peru, led by masked men called huaconesPerformance 🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreTauroctonyταυροκτόνος The sacred bull-slaying imagery at the heart of the ancient Roman Mithraic mysteriesSpiritual 🇮🇳 IndiaGuru-shishya traditionपरम्परा The lineage system passing spiritual and artistic knowledge from master to discipleSpiritual 🇺🇦 Ukraine and 8 moreVechornytsiвечорниці Evening gatherings of Ukrainian youth, with songs, jokes, games and winter divinationSeasonal 🇹🇷 Turkey and 2 moreHadraحضرة A collective Sufi ritual of chanted divine remembrance, sacred poetry and rhythmic movementSpiritual 🇺🇦 Ukraine and 10 moreEgg decorating Decorating eggs with dye, wax and carving, kept at Easter, Nowruz and springCraft 🇸🇳 Dakar, Senegal and 4 moreWorld Festival of Black ArtsFestival Mondial des Arts Nègres A recurring month-long gathering of arts, music and writing from Africa and its diasporaFestival 🇧🇬 BulgariaJuly Morning A Bulgarian summer gathering where crowds watch the first sunrise of July with music and song.Festival 🇸🇾 Syria and 6 moreKha b'Nisanܚܕ ܒܢܝܣܢ A spring new year on 1 April, kept with parades, poems and dancing by AssyriansFestival 🇮🇳 Thrissur, IndiaPooram An annual Kerala temple festival with percussion orchestras, elephants and fireworksFestival 🇬🇭 Anloga, Ghana and 1 moreHogbetsotso festival An Anlo Ewe festival in Anloga recalling an escape from NotsieFestival 🇮🇳 Santiniketan, India and 1 moreRabindra Jayanti An annual Bengali festival celebrating Rabindranath Tagore with music, drama and verseFestival 🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 1 moreSimchat Beit HaShoeivahשמחת בית השואבה Nightly music and dancing during the intermediate days of the festival of SukkotFestival · Tea-time and snacking customs 🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreDelphic Games of the modern era Global competitions and exhibitions across the arts, modelled on ancient Greek gamesPerformance 🇮🇪 Galway, IrelandSeachtain na Gaeilge Seventeen days of Irish-language events, from 1 March to St Patrick's DayFestival 🇮🇳 Imphal, India and 2 moreLai Haraobaꯂꯥꯏ ꯍꯔꯥꯎꯕ A ritual dance and music festival kept by the Meitei people to please their deities.Festival 🇧🇪 Ghent, BelgiumGentse Feesten Ten days of free music, theatre and street performance across central Ghent every JulyFestival 🇧🇴 San Ignacio de Moxos, BoliviaIchapekene Piesta A four-day festival of dance, feathers and procession in San Ignacio de Moxos, BoliviaFestival 🇬🇷 Athens, GreeceDionysiaΔιονύσια Ancient Athenian festivals of theatre, processions and sacrifices in honour of the god Dionysus.Festival · Feasts and festival meals 🇬🇷 Nicopolis, Greece and 1 moreActiaἌκτια A festival of music, sport, and naval displays kept in ancient times to honor a Roman emperor's victory.Festival 🇦🇴 Angola and 2 moreLusona Sand drawings from Angola and Zambia that carry proverbs, fables and animalsCraft 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia and 2 moreCamel Heda'aحداء الإبل Camel herders' calls that speak to the herd, kept across the Arabian PeninsulaFolklore 🇮🇳 IndiaPushpanjaliपुष्पाञ्जलि A Hindu ritual of offering flowers with cupped hands, used in worship and as an opening dance.Spiritual 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreFlyting A ritual contest of poetic insults exchanged between two parties in verse.Performance 🇷🇸 Serbia and 3 moreLazariceлазарице A spring procession of girls in flower wreaths, singing door to door before Palm SundaySpiritual
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Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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