Manipuri dancers are a minority. We haven't been able to reach out to people. Not many people outside Manipur know about Manipuri dance. And unfortunately there aren't many organisations which support Manipuri dance, so it also suffers due to lack of funds'' says Singhajit Singh, who has been singularly responsible for bringing Manipuri dance into the mainstream. Originating in the temples in Manipur, the dance form has now come into the limelight, but Singh has made sure that the purity of the style is preserved. At a recent performance at the India Habitat Centre, it was a feast for the eyes to see a lyrical and beautifully etched out performance by him and his wife Charu Sija Mathur. This husband-wife duo treat their art with reverence and commitment which is essential to the pursuance of classical art.The Manipuri style offers immense variety ranging from the softer and more lyrical(lasya) to the extremely vigorous(tandava). No matter how difficult a movement, there is always an ingrained ease and fluidity with each movement merges into another. In terms of costume and music, the Manipuri dance style provides unusual range and variety. Some forms of Manipuri dance are, Jagoi which includes the colourful Raslila, which narrates the stories of Radha and Krishna. Cholom is where the dancers play some musical instruments while performing.Is it a dying art form? ``I don't feel so. it is still a living, breathing art form in the temples of Manipur,''says Singh.He feels that it would be wonderful if more people came to see performances, and appreciated the dance form. He and his wife are single-handedly involved in the promotion and propagation of Manipuri dance. A dance institute to teach the dance form is on the top of their list of future plans.For Singh his devotion towards dance began in childhood. Belonging to a Manipuri royal family, he grew up in an atmosphere where patronage to dance and music and other art forms was considered very important, and is practised even today.``I always wanted to be a dancer, and started off by playing the drums when I was 10. I feel a certain mental make-up is required to be a dancer, which not everyone has, and I personally always wanted to perform in front of an audience,'' says Singh.According to him, ``Devotion is the strongest point in Manipuri dance, and strict adherence to the rules and bhakti is necessary.'' But has Manipuri dance gone through any innovations, like other classical dance forms? ``If we don't change, we will stop existing. And the same goes for any dance form. There have been imperceptible changes in Manipuri dance too, but we have never strayed away from tradition.''Talking about his wife, he says, ``My wife was my disciple and I always felt that she was a good student and a good dancer, we were working together and somewhere along the way we got married.'' His wife Charu is one of the top performers in Manipuri Jagoi. She is adept in both ballet and solo performances. Her dedication to dance led her to get herself admitted to a dance school all by herself at a very young age. She also attributes her success to a very supportive family, who encouraged her to pursue dance. And for Singh, as he laughingly admits, ``it is too late for me to change my profession now, I think I will dance for as long as I am alive.''
