People often love watching classical dance performances on television or stage shows but most likely than not without deep knowledge of the history or styles of these dance genres. The dance performances might become even more enjoyable if the viewers knew the story behind their creation. With an aim to make people aware about the classical dance forms, Bengal Foundation is organising a series of monthly lectures titled ‘Understanding Classical Dance’ by noted dancer Sharmila Banerjee.
The first lecture of that series featuring Manipuri Dance was held at the Daily Star-Bengal Art Precinct at Farmgate in the capital on Tuesday evening. A group of young dancers demonstrated different forms and styles of Manipuri dance at the programme.
Sharmila Banerjee began the lecture with introducing history of Manipuri dance. She informed that the genre is one of the six major Indian classical dance forms. It originates in Manipur, a state in north-eastern India on the border of Burma. ‘The region is surrounded by mountains and is geographically isolated from mainland India. Therefore, the dance genre developed its own aesthetic values and conventions and the traditional musical instrument dhol is used to provide beats and rhythm during the dance,’ informed Banerjee, who also added that the romantic relationship between Radha and Krishna is the central theme of Manipuri dance.
During the lecture, Sharmila Banerjee, along with few other dancers, demonstrated Manipuri dance. Manipuri dance usually begins in a slow-paced fashion with dancers carryinbg earthenware lamps in hand and moving in synchronization with the beats of dhol, locally known as Pung in Manipur.
Banerjee also said that the dance genre is a part and parcel of different traditional and religious festivals like Lai-Haraoba, Yaoshang, Kuki-Chin-Mizo and others in the Manipur region.
The programme was informative and also enjoyable as the lecture was punctuated with demonstration by the dancers for better understanding by the audience. Besides, through video-projection, glimpses of different Manipuri festivals were presented to audiences at the programme.
-With New Age input
