Manipuri
Manipuri form of Dance is a gentle dance with graceful swaying movements. It is not too technical or intricate like the other classical dances of India and can be easily learnt.
Bordering Burma is Manipur - The legendary land of dance and music rich in culture, traditions and religion. The Manipuris consider themselves the descendants of the Gandharvas, the legendary musicians, and dancers of the celestial courts of Indira. Manipuri dance is a generic name and covers all the dance forms of this land. According to legend, Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati danced in the valleys of Manipuri to the accompaniment of the Ghandharvas to the celestial light of Mani (jewel) from the head of the Atishesha, a serpent and that is how it has come to be called Manipuri.
Lord Krishna. In this dance from, the Lasya (feminine) aspects predominate.
Here the three elements of Nritta, Nritya and Natya are equally balanced. Being rich in emotional content and sentiment of love the Sringar Rasa (erotic mood) pervades the entire performance.
The orchestra of Rasa dance consists of Khol or Mridangan, Manjira (cymbals) and flute. The text songs are from great, saint lyricists like Jayadeva, Vidyapati, Chandidas or from Bhagavat Puran. The costume is rich and ornamental and extremely captivating. The sight of the costume itself is a great feast of colors, splendor and delicacy.
The other numbers performed are called Choloms. A Cholom dance is always virile, vigorous and sturdy and represents the Tandava aspect of the art. It involves a lot of turning, swaying, whirling, jumping and strong spiral movements. Therefore it is performed usually by men.
