Ghoomar is a traditional folk dance of Rajasthan. The dance is performed by women with elan and grace and includes swaying movements, accentuated with elegant traditional outfits. It has gained a lot of recognition and has been ranked as one of the world’s best local dances. Here’s everything you need to know about it. The Ghoomar dance is chiefly performed by the veiled group of women who wear flowing dresses called Ghaghara. The dance typically involves performers pirouetting while moving in and out of a wide circle. The word ghoomna describes the twirling movement of the dancers and is the basis of the word ghoomar. According to the traditional rituals, a newly married bride is expected to dance the ghoomar on being welcomed to her new marital home. Ghoomar Dance is often performed on special occasions, such as at weddings, festivals, and religious occasions. which sometimes lasts for hours. Ghoomar or Ghumar was basically developed by the Bhil tribe and was adopted by other Rajasthani communities. Ghoomar dance is performed by groups of women moving in a circular fashion and in swirling robes accompanied by men and women singing together. Fascination starts when colors of the flowing ‘Ghaghara’, the long skirt of the Rajasthani women flows during pirouetting. There is an amazing grace as the skirt flair slowly while the women twirl in circles, their faces covered with the help of the veil. This splendid view feels body with enthusiasm and more when one join the dance. It is joyfully performed by women from any age group as it has simple swaying movements. Its specialty is its special kind of footwork. There no time limit for this folk dance as it may continue for hours or the whole night. Dancers performing Ghoomar moves in a circular direction with clockwise and anti-clockwise steps and in between performers sometimes unite their hands and even clap their hand. Synchronization of steps with the beats of the songs is important and as the tempo of the dance increases, the dancers swirl fleetly.