ROLE OF MUSIC AND DANCE IN EXPRESSING AND COPING MECHANISM OF EMOTIONS IN BENGALI CULTURE

Abstract

Music and dance are inseparable parts of Bengali culture, through which a wide range of emotions found their way out to provide coping strategies to the people at large. This review article is aimed at exploring the visceral link between these two artistic expressions of Bengal with its relation to emotional expression and their contribution toward well-being, both to the self and society. Bengali music, particularly Rabindra Sangeet, Baul songs, and folk traditions like Bhawaiya and Bhatiali, has a rich fund of emotive narratives of love, grief, joy, and spiritual longing. It provides a medium of expression—not just self-expression but also an expression of a common cultural language in which individuals communicate and actualize their feelings. Therapeutic elements are present as it could be used in therapy. It is in Rabindra Sangeet that melody and lyrics have been used to soothe psychological ailments and bring about calmness in times of grief and anxiety. Indeed, this very fact has also been portrayed through rites, ceremonies, and religious functions; music has been coupled with emotional discharge, social bonding, and spiritual elevation. Another important aspect in Bengali cultural life is dance, which enables people to express their feelings through postures and bodily movements. It is through classical dances like Kathak and Bharatanatyam, both in their traditional and more contemporary expressionist techniques of expression, that emotional and social colors of Bengali life are represented. Furthermore, the performances were an expression of what the performers themselves were feeling, and thus the audience was taken into a shared experience, socially and culturally identifying themselves
with each other. The research also investigates how different art forms serve as coping mechanisms within the Bengali community. The musical and dance performances are all part of the collective celebration of festivals, hence constituting a form of collective coping mechanism through which people from that community overcome the emotional ups and downs of life. By combining literature with cultural studies, this review aims to identify the centre of music and dance in the emotional landscape of Bengal, while highlighting their functions as instruments of expression and therapy. These two art disciplines have become so deep-rooted in Bengali life that
they seem to act as channels for expressing and overcoming emotions, thus helping to strengthen the social and emotional fabric of Bengali society. 

DOI - https://doi.org/10.65525/SVUP.9788199651555.2026.33-48