KUMMI

KUMMI

Performed by women, the dancers move in a circle with hand gestures signifying reaping and harvesting. (Like Thiruvathira kali)One of the women leads the singing while the rest take up the refrain. Each performer renders a new line in turn and the dancing stops when all get tired. In variations of the Kummi, in some areas men also participate. Here, the men with small sticks in their hands form a circle, inside which the women stand in a smaller ring. The beating of the sticks by men and the clapping of the hands by women are perfectly synchronised with the steps that they make and also with the rhythm of the songs.