CLASSICAL ART: Poushali Chatterjee and Brojen Kumar Singha rehearse for a Manipuri performancein Thrissur.
She was here to perform at Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple as part of Sivaratri celebrations.
“Unlike Bharathanatyam, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Kathak or Mohiniyattom, Manipuri has very few exponents. It badly needs the support of youth. That Manipuri is esoteric is a wrong perception. Performing it is hugely enjoyable. People from outside Manipur have a lot of interesting things to learn in Manipuri dance,” she said.
A Bengali who learnt Manipuri, she should know. “I got attracted to Manipuri dance as a child when I watched the great dancer Guru Bipin Singh perform. He had associated with my mother, a vocalist, and I got to watch him perform some of the intricate items in the dance form,” she recalled.
Guru Bipin Singh advised her to concentrate on a single dance form.
“He told me that a performer dabbling in two or more styles would not yield results. One needs a life-time or more to learn even one art form,” she said.
She has choreographed modern pieces, especially those based on Tagore's poems, along with performing traditional choreographies.
“Tagore was a great admirer of Manipuri and Kathakali. In his dance-dramas, he used elements of both. He would visualise the tandavic element in the Kathakali style and the lasya form in the Manipuri idiom,” she said.
In her performance at the temple, she and her 10-member team presented traditional pieces, including the Vasant Raas.