Manipuri dance in focus

Sharmila Banerjee demonstrates the genre at Arts Precinct

Zahangir Alom

A wide array of demonstrations made the event engrossing. Photo: Prabir Das

Ahead of the third Bengal Classical Music Festival next month at Army Stadium in Dhaka, Bengal Foundation has been organising a monthly series of lecture and demonstration programme titled “Understanding Classical Dance” that will be presented by celebrated dancer-choreographer Sharmila Banerjee. The first of the series was held at Daily Star-Bengal Arts Precinct on October 21.
Giving insights into the nuances of Manipuri dance, one of the nine forms of Indian classical dance, Sharmila Banerjee talked about the origin and history of the dance genre and demonstrated essential steps and hand movements with the assistance of a team of young dancers – Sonia Rashid, Afsana Farhana Ahmed, Ira Bala, Krishna Roy, Sudeshna Swayamprabha, Meghomala, Elvis Mostafa, Rikhia, Ruponti, Awditiya and Anisha. Two visiting mridangam players --Amrita Sinha and Labu Sinha from Kamolganj, Sylhet also took part in a pungcholom performance. The event featured audio-visual contents, live dance pieces, verbal explanations and pragmatic demonstrations. 
The performance set off with a pure Manipuri dance style named Guru Vandana by Sudeshna. Sharmila, with mridangam in hands, demonstrated the performance one after another. The next piece titled “Maibi Jagoi” was a dance form of pre-ariyan stage. It is commonly performed in Lai Haroba Festival. Invocation of God along with creation of world through dance was the main theme of the piece. Demonstrative dance pieces including lashya, tandava, bhromori and sitting stances followed.

A wide array of demonstrations made the event engrossing. Photo: Prabir Das

Incorporating lashya and tandava rasa and styles, Sudeshna and Sharmila beautifully displayed Pantho Jagoi, an entire gamut of Manipuri dance showcasing hand gestures, footsteps, body language and corporal dance-hand activity. Later, two young artistes presented the dance of Gope Raas called Balya Krishna Nartan.  
Sudeshna superbly showcased an abhinaya dance form titled Nonichuri that is generally presented during Ulukhol Raas. Evoking Lord Krishna's Raasleela of Vrindavan, a performance of jugal nartan (duet dance) together with a shongkirttan dance or pungcholom followed. Tagore, who contributed much to the diffusion of Manipuri dance, composed a song “Dui Haat-e Kaler Mondira Je Sodai Bajey”. Based on the song, several artistes performed mondira nartan in Manipuri style that wrapped up the event.
In Manipur, surrounded by mountains and geographically isolated at the meeting point of the orient and mainland India, the dance form developed its own specific aesthetics, values, conventions and ethics. The cult of Radha and Krishna, particularly the raasleela, is central to its themes, but the dancers usually incorporate the characteristic symbols (kartal or mandira) and double-headed drum (pung or Manipuri mridangam) of sankirtan into the visual media.
An alumnus of Visva-Bharati University, Shantiniketan, Sharmila Banerjee was bestowed with the Nartan Visharad title after completing her post-graduate course in Manipuri dance at the Manipuri Nartanalaya, Kolkata under the renowned Manipuri maestro Guru Bipin Singh and Srimati Kalavati Devi. Sharmila Banerjee is currently head of dance department at Chhayanaut and runs her own dance school Nritya Nandan.