Dances of Manipur

There are many different dance styles from Manipur, a state in northeastern India bordering with Myanmar (Burma), Assam, Nagaland and Mizoram.

This Manipuri dance drama is, for the most part, marked by a performance that is graceful, fluid, and sinuous with greater emphasis on hand and upper body gestures.

[8][9] It is accompanied with devotional music created with many instruments, with the beat set by cymbals (kartal or manjira) and double-headed drum (pung or Manipuri mrdanga) of sankirtan.

[10] The dance drama choreography shares the plays and stories of Vaishnavite Padavalis, that also inspired the major Gaudiya Vaishnava-related performance arts found in Assam and West Bengal.

[1] Thougal Jagoi is the folk dance of the Meitei community performed during the Lai Haraoba festival before the deities.

In the dance, participants join hands in a circle,[11] hop on one foot and swing their free legs across, slowly advancing.