Famed as one of the six classical dance styles, Manipuri has a distinct aura of its own. With its origin deeply rooted in the Northeastern states of India, Manipuri dance amidst its grace and charm echoes the rhythm of life. Manipuri dance is also called "sankirtan". Loomed with grace and laced with charm, in the recent era, Manipuri Dance has become a ruling passion and an aesthetic obsession for both the artists as well as the spectators. The effervescent embellishment, the archetypal splendor of the lightness of dancing foot, the delicacy of abhinaya and the thump of the swinging music and poetic charm further adds grandeur to Manipuri dance while making it a true classical Nritya.

Origin of Manipuri Dance
In the quiet north-eastern corner of India, where the majestic Himalayas coils toward the sea, the brilliant valley of Manipur, the jeweled city lies with its sheer grace and charm. Manipur is the home of the Meities, the artistic race who since ages have redefined their lifestyle amidst the expression and appreciation of art and indeed through the grace of their Nritya and lasya. The Meities love to dance. All their delights and grieves, desires, hopes and aspirations, are interpreted through their dance. Their lovely, cadenced yet carefully-disciplined movements create their own vivid imagery, while bringing out the unedited realisms of life. It was against this background Manipuri dance evolved and later developed as a distinct dance form in India.

Type And Theme of Manipuri Dance
Grace, divinity and a seamless majesty enlaces Manipuri dance since the remote past. The Indian religious themes and the devotional aspects of Indian philosophy and religion hence silhouette the dance pattern. Quite ideally therefore the whole type and theme of this Manipuri dance revolve around devotional aspects. The Radha Krishna Rasa Leela braided with the throbbing beat of the Manipuri Dholak hence enriches the devotional attribute of Manipuri dance. Themes from Vishnu purans, and Geeta Givindam also therefore contours the rhythm of the Manipuri dance. Not just intricate footwork or gracious movement, the Vaishnava cult of Hinduism and the Bhagavata Purana also gains an articulate dimension amidst the vigorous masculinity and in the midst of the gentle feminine touch of the Manipuri dance.

Style And Technique of Manipuri Dance
The style and technique of Manipuri dance style is illustrious by its stress on the expression of moods and sentiments and through elegant body movements. In Manipuri dance technique the head, the hands, and the feet move together in ideal and faultless concord; the mood is created by the entire body, without undue emphasis on any one part. While the men`s dancing style is swift and vigorous and is characterized by leaps and sitting positions; the women`s dancing style on the other hand, is distinguished by smooth, gliding feminine movements.

Performance of the Manipuri Dancers
The traditional Manipuri style of dancing pre-eminently embodies delicate, lyrical and graceful movements. The performance of the Manipuri dancers amidst their color, rhythm and grace adds to the charm of the dance whilst enhancing the moods of the audience.

Music of the Manipuri Dance
Manipuri music in India has developed as an accompaniment for the dance. Quite ideally therefore music in Manipuri dance is bound by sheer technicalities of this dance form. Short musical compositions like the swarmala (a combination and arrangement of swaras or musical notes), the chaturang, and the keertiprabhand (a song incorporating rhythmic sounds) form an important part of the dancer`s repertoire

Music of the Manipuri dance is provided by four kinds of instruments including percussion instruments like the Pung (the Manipuri drum) and other varieties of drums, and wind instruments like the flute, conch shells and a trumpet-like horn. There are the stringed instruments such as the israj, tamboura, and pena to offer the main melody. The metallic instruments like the cymbals (known as kartal) provide an additional rhythmic effect to the overall dance style.

In Manipuri music a wide variety of tals is used. The tals which are most commonly used are the tanchep, of four beats or matras, the menkup, of six matras, and the rajniel, of seven matras.

The songs used in Manipuri are usually from the great poets of old such as Jaydev, Vidyapati, Chandidas, Govindadas or Gyandas. Any of a number of languages may be used such as Sanskrit, Maithili, Brijbhasha or others. The musical accompaniment to Manipuri dances is played on an instrument rather like a guitar called the khol, and the mridangam.

Dance Costumes in Manipuri Dance
Rich and vibrant colors with attractive jewelries are used as Manipuri dance costumes. "Patloi" , the typical costume of the female dancers echoes the splendor of the dance. The stunning colors of the ghagras and the intricate sequin designs of the flounced skirts offer that feel of the "long lost " historical brilliance in the dance pattern.

The lehenga is called "Kumin" with mirrors and zari work intricately woven into beautiful designs. It is layered with a transparent silk or "Pasuan". The choli or tight fitting bodice is usually of velvet with tight sleeves trimmed embellished with zari, silk or gold embroidery. On the head, covering the face, they wear a transparent odhni. The transparency of the Odhni ensures the visibility of the facial expressions. . The women also wear a tight-fitting cone-shaped cap, garnished with a border of synthetic pearls, under a thin white veil.

In Rasa Leela the Gopis usually wear a red dress while Radha stands out in green apparel. Krishna is seen wearing a dhoti with embroidered bands across his chest. In the Ras-Leela, Krishna is strikingly dressed in a pleated dhoti of gold or saffron silk.

Forms of Manipuri Dance:The term Manipuri actually covers a number of dance forms from the region. These are Rakhual, Khubak Ishei, Khubak Ishei , Pala Kirtana, Thabol Chongba, etc.

Manipuri Dancers
since ages the Manipuri dancers have added a whole new facet to this dance form. In Bombay the famous performers and teachers are the Jhaveri sisters - Nayana, Suverna, Darshana and Ranjana Jhaveri. They continue this tradition at their institution Manipuri Nartanalaya. These artists have spread the beauty of Manipuri dance all over the world and have been honored both nationally and internationally on this subject. The most well known performers are Sohini Ray and Poushali Chatterjee.