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Young World
Mesmerising Manipuri
ANJANA RAJANANJANA RAJAN
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Lai Haroba is the oldest form of the Manipuri dance originally performed by priests and priestesses known as maibas and maibis.
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Delicate movements...
A number of dance forms come under the umbrella of Manipuri dance. Among them is the famous Ras Lila, in which dancers representing the gopis of Vrindavan wear flared mirror work skirts with translucent veils and dance with soft, swaying movements. The dancer playing Krishna wears a dhoti and a headdress of long plumes. Like other Manipuri styles, the Ras Lila is a sacred art and is performed at auspicious ceremonies like marriages. The distinctive lightness of movement in Manipuri dance comes from holding the knees consistently in a bent position and stepping with the toes, with the heel rarely touching the ground.
Other Manipuri dances include Pung Cholam and Kartal Cholam. In the first, dancers perform in a group holding metal cymbals, and in the second, they dance while playing the pung — a cylindrical drum, while taking acrobatic spiral leaps. There is also the Gostha Lila depicting stories of Krishna's childhood pranks, performed by young boys. These dances are from the Vaishnavite tradition which worship Lord Vishnu, but Manipur contains an older dance form, Lai Haroba, traditionally performed by priests and priestesses known as maibas and maibis. This ritualistic form represents the dance of the Gods. The Maibi dance, which describes creation and the life of Manipur's Meiti people, and the dance of Khamba and Thoibi — the star crossed royal lovers of the 15th Century — are a part of Lai Haroba.
Metti dancers performing the Pungcholam...
While Manipuri dance used to be performed as a ritual or part of religious festival, in temple courtyards, it is now a stage art too. Great gurus and performers include the late Bipin Singh and his wife Kalabati Devi, the Jhaveri sisters of Mumbai and Guru Singhajit Singh and his wife Charu Sija Mathur of Delhi. The Jawaharlal Nehru Manipuri Dance Academy in Imphal is the national institute for this art, run by the Sangeet Natak Akademi. Santiniketan's Department of Manipuri Dance was created earlier, in the 1930s.
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