Manipuri
Manipuri Dance is a generic name and covers all the dance-forms
of the land, Manipur.
The repertoire of Manipuri dances can be divided into three
or four broad categories including Thang or martial ritual dancers, dances
related to the various jatras, sankirtana traditions and various ballad
forms.
Manipuri Dance can be called a house of many
mansions. There is a belief that Radha and Krishna were the original author
and creator of Manipuri Dance. This Rasa -dance was repeated by Uma and Shiva
in Lasya style in Manipur. After many centuries the same Rasa-dance was performed
the third time by two mortal human beings, princess Toibi and Khamba.These
two star-crossed lovers died in tragic circumstances. The dance than these
two lovers performed is known as Lai
Haraoba. There are many myths and legends
which reveal the Manipuris passionate love for arts, particularly for dance,
music and mime. These are woven into the very fabric of their life like a
beautiful pattern.
Today Manipuri Dance has become a ruling passion and an aesthetic
obsession for initiated artists and the spectators alike because of its colourful
adornment, lightness of dancing foot, delicacy of abhinaya, lilting music
and poetic charm.
