Raas, a historical perspective Part One

Raas is a form of folk dance. One we call Raas is actually Dandia Raas. Generally speaking, I know of following types of Raas.
Garba Raas: Garba, originally to be only done by women. Also known as Raasdo.
Dandia Raas: One we all know about this one. Sticks are to be used, originally done by lord Krishna and the women or Vraj. Since Gujarati people descended to Gujarat from up north, they brought this form of dance with them. More about this later.
Daang (Single stick) Raas: done in Rajasthan only men do it. My wife choreographed one in 1992.
Manjira Raas: some thing that I have never seen in USA, this is a dying form of art. Here only men dance. They wear Manjia on various parts of their body, sometimes on legs, arms, they may be stuck to their vest. I have seen videos from Tarnetar fair of Saurastra. (done in seventies) and as a child I have seen some performances. In Gujarat there were two tribes who did Manjira dances, one would be considered Raas, as it is done by men. The "Padhora" tribe lives near the famous "Nal lake". They used to be sailers in the past. Critical element of this Raas is that the beat that is played on Dhol is kept up by the players with Manjira, often they would be up side down with their feet in the air, Manjira tied to the feet and they make wonderful visual. There is significant degree of acrobatics as well as coordination. Some times one guy will have his feet around another guy's waist (no homophobia here) doing circles. This is some thing that can be easily adopted to American Raas, as long as judges know that this is accepted form of Raas but not Dandia Raas. They would some times adopt from the british policemen and wrap cloth around their feet (albeit colorful and not just Khakhi). They would sing if they felt like it. What is most striking is that they are very relaxed and in a state of trance. Musicians are typically playing Bhajans.