Situated in the Far Eastern corner of India lies the verdant valley of
Manipur, which has given birth to one of the most graceful, lyrical dance
styles of India - Manipuri dance.

Still performed in the temples of Manipur and inextricably woven into the
religious and social fabric of the people, the dances of Manipur are a living
and throbbing tradition since ancient times.

The style offers immense variety ranging from the softest, lyrical (lasya) to
the most vigorous masculine (tandava). The basic character of the style is
that however difficult a movement, there is always a rounded ease and
fluidity, each movement merging into another.

Seeing a Manipuri dance performance one is invariably transported to an
ancient civilization extremely well preserved and still thriving.
In terms of costumes and music, the Manipuri dance style provides unusual
and typical range and variety.

In this style we find Jagoi which includes the famous and colourful Rasleela
with exotic and ornamental. l costumes narrating the stories of Radha and
Krishna and even the much older archaic dances of Lai Haraoba like the
Maibi (high priestess) dance.

Cholom in which the dancers play some musical instruments while
performing is a specialty of Manipuri. Pung Cholom or drum dance is a
well-known example.

Thang-Ta or the traditional martial arts of Manipur also provide unusual
dance movements thus making the Manipuri dance repertoire much richer.
It is only in recent times that the Manipuri dancers have come out of their
temple surroundings for outside audiences, making them a rare experience.
Emerging firom this tradition, Singhajit Singh and Charu Sija with their
troupe present lively dances keeping in view the present day audiences,
without sacrificing the purity of the style