Gidda
What is Gidda?
Gidda is the traditional folk dance of Punjabi women — performed in a circle, accompanied by clapping and boliyan (sung couplets). While bhangra gets the global spotlight, gidda is its equal in cultural depth and significance. Where bhangra is athletic and drum-driven, gidda is vocal, narrative, and deeply personal.
The dance is performed at weddings, festivals (especially Teeyan and Vaisakhi), and women's gatherings. Performers wear bright suits with colourful dupattas, often embroidered with phulkari work. The movements include graceful hand gestures, footwork, swaying, and dramatic expressions that match the content of the boliyan being sung.
Boliyan: The Heart of Gidda
What makes gidda unique among world dance forms is that the dance is driven by poetry, not drums. The boli (singular of boliyan) is a short, rhyming couplet — usually two or four lines — that is sung by a performer while the circle claps and responds. The topics range widely:
- Romance: "My beloved left for the city, now even the moon looks lonely"
- Teasing: "My sister-in-law's rotis are so thick, the dog uses them as a bed"
- Social commentary: "The rich man's daughter has ten dupattas, but not a single skill"
- Nature: "The rains have come, the peacock dances, but my heart still waits"
- Celebration: "A boy has been born in the house, bring out the laddoos!"
The best boli singers can compose verses on the spot — responding to another singer's verse with a cleverer comeback. This call-and-response format makes gidda a form of freestyle poetry predating modern rap by centuries.
Gidda at Weddings
Gidda is inseparable from the Punjabi wedding. During the sangeet (musical evening), mehndi ceremony, and jaggo, women gather to perform gidda with boliyan tailored to the occasion: teasing the groom, praising the bride, joking about in-laws, and offering blessings. The wedding gidda is often the most emotionally charged — the mother's boliyan about her daughter leaving can move everyone to tears, while the next verse might be so wickedly funny that the tears turn to laughter.
Modern Gidda
In the diaspora, gidda has found new life through university competitions, Teeyan melas, and cultural festivals. Teams choreograph elaborate gidda performances with traditional boliyan and original compositions. Social media has also helped — videos of grandmothers performing gidda at weddings regularly go viral, introducing the art form to new audiences. The fundamental appeal remains: gidda is women telling their stories, in their own words, on their own terms.