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About Us
Banjara Dance Company
is a performance group based in London, Ontario, Canada. We perform various styles of multi-cultural Gypsy, Tribal
and Belly dance.
About Gyspy Dance
Gypsy dancing is a reflection of the passions and innermost feelings of the performer - The whole body becomes a
vehicle of expression.
There are no set guidelines to this form of dance, other than that it is important to dance the dance the way you feel
it. When dancing as a group, we dance as individuals within a group.
The movements are taken from various inspirations such as Indian dancing and bellydance. It is
popular in gyspy dance to use movements that tell a story or describe an action. There are dances for funerals
that tell the story of the dead and dances for weddings that tell a story of love. Some are just moves
that describe everyday things, such as washing the skirt, grinding pepper... etc.
Who Are The Real Banjara Gypsies?
The real Banjara Gypsies live in India. They are one of the last known gypsy groups who
have managed to kept almost all of their own ancient culture alive. After being persecuted for centuries for not
conforming to local governments, they now live quite peacefully as a very respected group of people. These people
never picked sides during wars and were willing to trade with both sides to help give food, shelter and clothing to the needy.
They have kept their own style of beautiful clothing - Shirts and Skirts are full of patchwork, embroydery
and mirrors.
It is thier strength in keeping their culture untouched and true to their ancient ways
and their unwillingness to be like anything else that has inspired our dancing, our costumes and our name.
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