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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
🇦🇲 Armenia and 1 moreKochariՔոչարի A circle dance from the Armenian Highlands, danced at weddings and gatheringsPerformance 🇺🇾 Uruguay and 3 moreTango A social partner dance of the Río de la Plata, improvised step by stepPerformance 🇦🇱 Gjirokastër, Albania and 2 moreAlbanian iso-polyphonyIso-polifonia Multi-part Albanian singing with a held drone, kept across the southPerformance 🇮🇷 Urmia, IranKurdish danceGovend (گۆڤەند) Circle dances of the Kurds, led by handkerchief twirlers, for weddings and NewrozPerformance 🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreKeeningCaoineadh A sung mourning cry at Gaelic funerals, once led by hired women singersRite of passage 🇱🇰 Sri LankaSanni Yakuma A Sinhalese rite where masked dancers summon eighteen illness demons and banish themSpiritual 🇰🇪 Kenya and 1 moreAdumuEnkipaata A Maasai warrior dance of high jumps from a circle, done at weddings and ritesPerformance 🇵🇷 Puerto Rico and 1 moreParranda A Puerto Rican Christmas custom of night-time visits with songs, food and drinkPerformance · Supper 🇯🇵 Hiroshima, JapanKagura神楽 A sacred Shinto dance tradition in Japan that invites deities to descend and perform through human dancers.Performance 🇮🇩 Yogyakarta, IndonesiaWayangꦮꦪꦁ A night-long puppet theatre from Java, where a dalang tells epics behind a lit screenPerformance 🇻🇳 Huế, VietnamNhã nhạcNhã nhạc (雅樂) Vietnam's royal court music, played for palace rites from the Trần dynasty onwardPerformance 🇻🇳 VietnamCa trùCa trù (歌籌) A Vietnamese art of sung poetry, led by a woman singer with lute and praise drumPerformance 🇦🇺 AustraliaBush dance An Australian social dance style, usually with a live bush bandPerformance 🇲🇽 Papantla, Mexico and 1 moreDanza de los Voladores A Mesoamerican rite of dance and rope, flown from a tall pole to ask for rainSpiritual 🇧🇭 Bahrain and 1 moreFijiriالفجيري Songs of the Gulf pearl divers: one lead voice, a chorus, a hand drum and a clay potPerformance 🇷🇺 Palekh, RussiaPalekh miniatureПалехская миниатюра Tiny tempera paintings on lacquered papier-mâché, made in the Russian town of PalekhCraft 🇸🇾 Aleppo, SyriaQudud Halabiyaقدود حلبية Syrian songs of love and longing, shaped in Aleppo and set to old melodiesPerformance 🇦🇹 Vienna, AustriaViennese coffee house cultureWiener Kaffeehauskultur A Viennese social ritual where patrons linger for hours with a single coffee and newspapers.Etiquette · Tea-time and snacking customs 🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanNoh能 (Nō) Japanese masked dance-drama, staged since the 14th century in family schoolsPerformance 🇲🇳 MongoliaMorin khuurморин хуур (Mongolian Cyrillic); ᠮᠣᠷᠢᠨ ᠬᠣᠭᠣᠷ (traditional Mongol script) Mongolia's two-string horsehead fiddle, played with a horsehair bowPerformance 🇯🇵 Osaka, Japan and 1 moreBunraku文楽 Osaka's puppet theatre, with chanters, shamisen players and puppeteers in plain sightPerformance 🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 1 moreShofarשׁוֹפָר A ram's horn blown in synagogue to mark the Jewish new year and the end of Yom KippurSpiritual 🇦🇹 Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria and 2 moreSilent NightStille Nacht, heilige Nacht A Christmas carol composed in Austria in 1818, now sung worldwide as a symbol of peace.Performance 🇵🇹 Lisbon, PortugalFado Portugal's song of fate and longing, sung in Lisbon and CoimbraPerformance 🇮🇳 Baripada, IndiaChhau dance A masked dance of eastern India, blending martial steps with epic storiesPerformance 🇪🇪 EstoniaSeto leeloleelo Polyphonic folk singing of the Setos, led by women in traditional dressPerformance 🇺🇦 UkraineTraditional Ukrainian wedding A wedding spread over many days, with matchmaking, bread, wreaths and songRite of passage 🇨🇳 Beijing, China and 1 morePeking opera京剧 / 京劇 (Jīngjù) China's main opera form: song, dance and acrobatics tell the story on a bare stagePerformance 🇹🇭 ThailandWai khruพิธีไหว้ครู A Thai ceremony of thanks to teachers, held in schools and in the artsSpiritual 🇬🇧 Llangollen, United Kingdom and 5 moreEisteddfod A Welsh festival of poetry and music competitions, featuring the chairing and crowning of winning bards.Festival 🇵🇸 Bethlehem, PalestineTatreezتَطْرِيز Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery, stitched onto dresses and read for its regionCraft 🇦🇲 Yerevan, ArmeniaYarkhushtaՅարխուշտա A men's row dance from Sasun, where pairs clap palms as the lines advancePerformance 🇬🇧 Cardiff, United KingdomGorsedd CymruGorsedd Cymru (yr Orsedd) A Welsh society of poets and writers that holds ceremonies at the National Eisteddfod to honour cultural achievements.Festival 🇨🇳 China and 2 moreCantonese opera粵劇 One of the major forms of Chinese opera, sung in Cantonese in southern ChinaPerformance 🇧🇾 BelarusBatlejkaБатле́йка A two-level puppet booth from Belarus, playing Nativity and folk scenes at ChristmasPerformance 🇿🇦 Cape Town, South AfricaCape Town Minstrel CarnivalKaapse Klopse Cape Town's 2 January parade of minstrel troupes, ghoema drums and bright umbrellasFestival 🇨🇺 Santiago de Cuba, CubaTumba francesa An Afro-Cuban art of dance, song and drumming kept by societies in eastern CubaPerformance 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreLast Post A bugle call sounded at military funerals and remembrance services across the Commonwealth to honour those who died in sPerformance 🇸🇬 Singapore and 2 moreChingay Parade妝藝 A lively street procession of floats, giant flags, and performing arts in Southeast AsiaFestival 🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreMoors and ChristiansMoros y Cristianos Theatrical parades and mock battles staging historic clashes across Spain and beyondFestival 🇪🇸 Valencia, SpainMascletà A daytime sound and rhythm pyrotechnic display typical of the Valencian CommunityFestival 🇧🇬 Kazanlak, BulgariaRose FestivalФестивал на розата An annual harvest celebration of damask roses across the Rose Valley of BulgariaFestival 🇭🇷 Dubrovnik, CroatiaDubrovnik Summer FestivalDubrovačke ljetne igre An annual summer celebration of theatre, music and dance held in the historic streets of Dubrovnik.Festival 🇫🇷 Nice, FranceNice CarnivalCarnaval de Nice A two-week winter festival of papier-mâché floats and flower battles in Nice, FranceFestival 🇱🇺 Echternach, LuxembourgDancing procession of EchternachIechternacher Sprangprëssioun A Roman Catholic hopping pilgrimage honouring Saint Willibrord in eastern LuxembourgSpiritual 🇵🇬 Goroka, Papua New GuineaGoroka Show An annual cultural gathering and sing-sing in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New GuineaFestival 🇲🇰 Ohrid, North MacedoniaOhrid Summer FestivalОхридско лето A summer season of concerts and theatre in Ohrid, running from mid-July to late AugustFestival 🇲🇦 Rabat, Morocco and 5 moreFantasiaالفانتازيا A North African equestrian display of synchronized charging and simultaneous rifle fireGame
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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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