Folk troupes are booked out this wedding season
DJ floors are making room for ghoomar circles and dhol lines. Troupe leaders say the phone hasn't stopped since last winter.
The troupe leader keeps two diaries: one for performances, one for waiting lists. Both are full. Families who once wanted a celebrity playlist now want an hour of live folk — dancers in mirror-work, a dhol section, and a finale that pulls every uncle onto the floor.
The revival has practical roots. Wedding planners discovered that a live troupe photographs better than a smoke machine, and grandparents participate instead of retreating. One leader puts it plainly: 'A DJ plays for the couple's friends. We play for all four generations.'
The money is finally respectable. Troupes that survived on festival honorariums now quote wedding rates, buy their own sound, and pay dancers through the off-season. Younger members are staying instead of migrating to city gigs.
The repertoire adapts without apologising. The old songs remain, but the entries are choreographed for phone cameras and the encore is timed to the caterer's dessert counter. Tradition, the leader says, has always been a working professional.
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