Nachom: Exploring Harmony Through Manipuri Dance Writings

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Dr Debanjali Biswas

Dr. Debanjali Biswas has received extensive training in classical Manipuri dance under the tutelage of Vidushi Smt. Poushali Chatterjee in late Oja Bipin Singh's style. She has received further instructions in various subgenres of Manipuri from Padmashri Smt. Darshana Jhaveri of Jhaveri Sisters troupe, Prof. Sruti Bandopadhyay of Sangit Bhavana, Visva-Bharati University, SNA Awardee Oja Thiyam Suryamukhi Devi and Manipur State Kala Akademi Awardee Oja Ranjeet Chingtham Khuman from Imphal, Manipur. She is the codirector, performer, choreographer with the performance collaborative Mitradheya and is an empanelled artist with Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). Having received multiple international grants and fellowships, currently Debanjali is an early career researcher in theatre-performance-dance studies and social anthropology (MA, MA, MPhil, PhD). Her research is at the intersections of performance and marginality. precarity, resistance. She studies dance, writes on dance, learns more about dance even when she is not dancing.

Dance is an intangible art and celebrating 25 years of the Manipuri dance institution Purbachal Navanandanik Movement Arts by creating a tangible record of different aspects of Manipuri dance is a fitting and valuable contribution to the understanding and appreciation of Manipuri performing arts traditions. Through her own and others' writings, Navanandanik founder Poushali Chatterjee has shared personal experiences and journeys in dance as well as background on many aspects of Meitei arts.

Poushali shares the benefits of Dance Movement Therapy post-pandemic. DMT is an alternative form of psychotherapy that uses movement and dance-based activities to help individuals achieve physical, emotional, cognitive and social integration. She quotes Rinku Bhattacharya Das, "Dance is a form of liberation for me and has healing power....A person's entire concept of self and mindset changes positively. The act of dancing helps lift spirits, raise energy levels, and maintain mental health, especially when self-isolation is a way of life.