DANCES OF MANIPUR

All my childhood summer were spent in Imphal the capital of Manipur,with my maternal grandparents and uncle’s family. Where Namsai engulfed me and surprises me with its cultural diversity,Imphal exposed me to the rich culture and tradition of  Manipur,of which I too am a part. Living in an area where every mouth speaks the language I first learned and tasting a classic Manipuri dish like “eromba” and “singju” for every meal reminds me of my roots.my summer vacations were not only spend in learning new games from my cousins but also in memorizing new Manipuri songs and poems, which I proudly performed to my friends and neighbors after returning to Namsai.My love for dancing took me a step further. and I  keenly insisted to watch every single dance performance that took place in the city.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

                                       Maibi dance of Manipur
Photo courtesy http://www.google.co.in/imgres?

                             Lai-Haraoba is an important festival of the natives of Manipur “meiteis” as they are known in the local language.This festival commences  by offering clothes,food articles and grains to a sylvan deity who  differs in  each locality.This festival witnesses a number of dances like Khamba-Thoibi Dance, Maibi Dance and so on.The khamba-Thoibi is a duet dance performed by the women wearing “phanek” and a headdress called “kajenglei”.It is believed that the hero Khamba and his beautiful heroin Thoibi performed this dance before lord Thangjing for the peace and prosperity of the land.The modern form of this dance is a depiction on the dance originally performed by them.The Maibi dance is performed by “Maibis” who is the priestesses,wearing a serene white dress and “chura” a feathery headdress.She through her dance talks about the origin of mankind,it begins with the creation of the earth and then slowly moves on to showing the starting of civilization.I use to witness all this dances with out most excitement and hardly ever blinking my eyes.I would always leave the performance ground with a desire  to learn to perform these dances and to be able to wear those beautiful costumes which highly attracted me as a child.


                                                        

                                                                Khamba-Thoibi dance of manipur
Photo courtesy http://www.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://www.museindia.com

 Unfortunately ever I never learned to perform the classical Manipuri dances,and my childhoods desire still remains only unfulfilled. However there is one form of Manipuri dance that I can perform and which I thoroughly enjoy performing, this dance is the Thabal-chongba Dance.This is performed during the festival of Holi(“yaosang” in the local language),and requires no previous learned skills to perform this dance.this is a community dance where men-women,girls-boys and children hold hands to form a chain and skip according to the beats of the drum and flute.The Holi of 2011 is the first time that I missed the exciting and joyous experience of this dance,and it brings a nostalgic tear to my eye.                                       
                                                               
                                                         Thabal chongba dance of Manipur
 photo courtesy  http://www.google.co.in/imgres?

Be it the performances seen on the stage at Guwahati or the open ground dance performances in Manipur,it all speaks of the beauty of art and cultural that has been preserved in the North-Eastern states of IIndia.The North East is not an underdeveloped region of the country,but a region that needs more recognition and appreciation.The dance forms of the different states not only move the heart of millions to its beat but also reveal a small fragment of this vast and rich of the North East.

DIVERSITY UNITED

Namsai is a small town in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. This is the town in which I was born and where I have spent the lovely childhood days. This tiny town away from the crowd and pollution of the city has a small population which comprises of various different North Eastern communities like, the Khamti tribe who are the natives, Assamese, Manipuris, Oriyas, Adis and so on. This town has not only given me an opportunity to live so close to nature but to also be familiar with various cultures.Though,I am a Manipuri, I have seen and experienced different ceremonies of these different cultures. like the “Poy pee Mau” of the khamti’s and “Bihu” of the Assamese.

                                                                                                Cock dance of Khamti tribe 
photo courtsey  http://www.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://farm3.static.flickr.com                   

The “Poi pee mau”, is the New Year festival of the Khamti tribe. It is celebrated with a traditional feast in which dishes like “Khaolam” (a rice cake cooked inside a bamboo shaft) and “Paasa”(burnt fish with a gravy of native leaves like “pichim-khim”,”makat” & “pokhoi-hom”) are cooked. This ceremony is accompanied by various Khamti dances like the Cock dance, War dance, Kinnari dance and so on.The Cock dance is performed by only two people who wear a head gear shaped like the head of the cock.This dance usually shows a fight between two cocks and is inspired by the ancient tradition of entertaining the king with a cock fight. The Kinnari dance is performed by a a group of dancers where the women wear “sin-sa-pha “(“sin” is a tight wrapper from the waist downwards, the sa-is the well fitted blouse and the “pha” a light piece worn on the upper body) and men wear “ Phanoi“ ,the dance is a combination of simple movements of the hand and foot. The war dance is performed by a group of men dressed like warriors. They wear a protective metal helmet and carry weapons like the sword and shield.Their dance movement are fast and aggressive.

                                      My friends Monika and Kosa in Kinnari dance costume

              photo courtesy   http://www.google.co.in/imgres?
The “Bihu” which is predominantly a festival that belongs to Assam and the assamease people is also celebrated in a small scale by the assamese people of Namsai.The Bihu dance is the most ornamental and escalating feature of this festival.This dance is performed to celebrate the harvest season in  the month of April.Before the Assamese new year arrives  on the 14^th of April and which announces the end of the Bihu mood,children and youth  perform  the Bihu dance at every  houses of the locality  and collect money to raise a fund for the community new year feast.I too have been a part of this group of youth ,and now recollect  those moments with a smile of my face.The women wear “mekhla-chadar”  and men dress in “dhoti” and tie a “gamcha” around their heads. The dance includes heavy movement of the hips and rhythmic casual movements of the wrist on the part of the women,while the men join them by singing  songs of the beauty of the land and playing simple instruments like drums and gongs.The tune of the songs of the Bihu dance is very pleasing to the ear and the rhythm makes the viewers tap their foot.

 

A Bihu Dance

 

                                     photo courtesy  http://www.google.co.in/imgres?

CULTURE EMBODIED

Though I have not had the opportunity to visit all the seven wonderful lands and to be rejuvenated by their rich culture and art forms, but a visit with my uncle to a North Eastern dance festival in Guwahati (Assam) helped me enjoy and experience the dances of  a few of these states to which I would have otherwise remained blinded. The different states that performed that day were Meghalaya,Mizoram,Nagaland,Tripura.I would like to relate the information that I gathered about these dances from the performances at the festival and  the additional information which were given to the audience after each dance ended. I today think myself very lucky to have noted down whatever was said about these wonderful dances. I would like to begin with the dances of  Meghalaya. These dances are associated with their festivals and seasons and so are performed throughout the year. The performances are held under the open sky ,and the movements are based on the melodious tempo of traditional instruments. Some of the dances performed that day are the Nongkrem dance & Lohoo dance. The nongkrem dance is a religious dance performed to thank the almighty for a good harvest, prosperity and safeguarding of the Khasi community. The day is celebrated in the capital Shillong as a holiday, and the dance is performed in various places.It is held annually during October and november.This dance includes mainly specialized footwork and is performed by women in colorful dresses called the “jainsieum” and accessorized in golden and red ornaments.The Lahoo Dance is performed by both male and female for entertainment. Attired in their best costumes usually two young men on either side of a woman, holding arms together dance in step. The women are dressed  in golden ornaments and the Khasi “jainsieum” and men wear brightly colored “dhotis” and turbans.                                                              A khasi couple.                                  photo courtesy http://www.anonlineindia.com/images/khasis.jpg                          The dances of Mizoram are as beautiful as that of Meghalaya and echo the sound of the land. The dances are performed with vibrant energy and skill and are accompanied with the sound of musical instruments like gong and drums. A few of the Mizoram dances performed that day were Cheraw and Sarlamkai.The Cheraw dance performance was my favorite performance of the day.”Cheraw” is the original name of what is more commonly known as bamboo dance.I suppose that it is also by far the most popular north eastern dance, from a popular reality show like Roadies to the stage of the dance festival that day, it always leaves the minds of the viewers wondering as to how such a dance form was created. This dance is performed by men sitting face to face on the ground tapping long pairs of horizontal and cross bamboo staves open and close in rhythmic beats. Girls in colorful Mizo costumes of 'Puanchei', 'Kawrchei'. Vakiria' and 'Thihna' dance in and out between the beats of bamboo. This dance is now performed in almost all festive occasions. The unique style of the 'Cheraw' is a great fascination everywhere it is performed. Gongs and drums are used to accompany the dance. Today modern music also complements the dance. The Sarlamkai dance was originally performed to celebrate victory over another tribe group and is accompanied with a non vegetarian feast. The dancers form a circle and make aggressive movements. The men and women both carry simple weapons and wear feathers on their heads.                                                                    Cheraw Dance                              photo courtesy http://mizoram.nic.in/images/cheraw.jpg The Naga dances are full of vigor and vitality and very rich in artistic element. My favourite Naga dance is the Zelaing.This dance is performed by a group of men and women. The dancers form any geometric shape and gradually speed up the tempo by stamping the feet or clapping in additional to the rise in the tempo of the musical instrument used. After the climax is reached, the tempo is brought down again and there is a satisfying finale. The only dance that was performed from the state of Tripura is the Garia dance.This is  also a group dance of both men and women. This dance is performed to pray the goddess Garia for a good harvest.All the members of the group wear flowery ornaments and are dressed in a manner similar to the Assamese ”mekhela-chadar “and” dhoti”,and the men also tie a “gamcha”on their foreheads like the Assamese.                                                                      Garia Dance                         photo courtesy http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3104/2695127397_b902760b30.jpg I thoroughly enjoyed the entire show and was once again amazed and proud of the cultural diversity of the various North-Eastern states. The dances were full of energy and worked as a mirror reflecting the traditions and essence of their land. The different costumes and variety in music spell bounded the audience and brought out the artistic specialties of these states. I too was very impressed by all the performances and left the show with an aching heart carving for more.

The Dance of the Sisters.

The Dances of the Seven Sisters with the addition of a Brother, Sikkim, is so culturally diverse that even the geographical barriers serve no justice. And this creates the Cultural Richness in it's Diversity.

Music and Dance of the Northeastern States are a source of absolute rejuvenation, and it is so deeply rooted in their history to depict tales of happiness and sorrow. The Dances are associated with the festivals of the different seasons, and hence, they are celebrated throughout the year.

The Seven Sisters is the union of the Northeastern States of India, that is, the State of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland, and a Brother, Sikkim.
The Dance forms of each of these states are performed with such enthusiasm and vibrancy that people from all over the world travel to these distant regions to have a glance at their culture.
Dances are a way of transportation to visit the realms of the past, of the ancestors, and their experiences of joy and pain.
The accomplishments of the tribe are beautifully captured in these dance forms and it always has a natural flow of story-telling.

Dance is an expression. It is Art, skillfully crafted for the performers to embody, and the audience to experience.

Photo Courtesy: http://www.ilovekolkata.in/