Kauda Fold Dance: A Study of the Changes of Its Urban Performance

Abstract

In Nepal, the folk performances from stage to screen retrace a link from the country t the city, a circular movement of visual arts from the indigenous folk tradition to the world of popular culture. Popular among Gurungs and Magars in the western Nepal, folk dance, kaura is often performed at entertainment houses on hills and stages in theaters in cities, which have been promoted in films and television programs in recent decades. In recent years, the folk dance kaura in bars and hotels connect economics and culture, work and art, and country and city. In the past, folk performers on hills used to dance at nights after their daylong works; these days, professional dancers perform at clubs and hotels to entertain guests and visitors for their daily earnings. Nepal has a very rich tradition of folk dances. Every region manifests different cultural feature. Tanahun, the land of indigenous ethnic community, songs and folk dances, vividly depicts the life in its variegated color with joys and sorrows, ups and downs in melodious tunes. The present research work exposes the ways the indigenous ethnic performances become popular with economic interests and social functions. It retraces changes in folk dances when performed in restaurants, bars, colleges along with festivals, locally and abroad. What are the effects of the participation in community art? It also explicates how people’s leisure time activities, such as singing and dancing have been connected to their economic interests and indigenous lifestyles.