"Dancing is the inevitable accompaniment of every gathering, and they
have a great variety suitable to the special times and seasons. The
motion is slow and graceful, a monotonous sing-song being kept up all
through. The steps are in perfect time and the action wonderfully
even and regular. This is particularly noticeable in some of the
variations of the dances representing the different seasons and
the necessary acts of cultivation that each brings with it. In one
the dancers bending down make a motion with their hands as though
they were sowing the grain, keeping step with their feet all the
time. Then come the reaping of the crop and the binding of the sheaves,
all done in perfect time and rhythm, and making with the continuous
droning of the voices a quaint and picturesque performance." In the
Central Provinces the Kols now dance the Karma dance of the Gonds,
but they dance it in more lively fashion. The step consists simply
in advancing or withdrawing one foot and bringing the other up or
back beside it. The men and women stand opposite each other in two
lines, holding hands, and the musicians alternately face each line
and advance and retreat with them. Then the lines move round in a
circle with the musicians in the centre.