Give any theme, provided there is a good choreographer and competent artistes to put heart in it and also the music properly set, then the play comes to life. This is what one experienced at witnessing the presentation of Wainu Pareng, the latest in the repertory of the Production Unit of the Academy at its hall.

The long and short of the story (based on a folk-tale) is this: A male crane (Wainu in Manipuri) and Kadamba by name, wings all the way to Kabo (now Myanmar) in search of a mate and there he meets Kadambi a female crane. After their return to Manipur, the two find this place far from being peaceful, hence they fly back to the home place of his partner. There, the two soon are blessed with an offspring, but their happiness is short-lived as the young falls into the trap of heartless hunters. The hapless mother, particularly, becomes disconsolate and has nothing but to rue her own fate.


Here, the artistes with a degree of versatility execute with ease the dance numbers simulating the characteristics of the tall, long-necked and long-billed flying aquatic birds with limited costumes to represent them - the synchronised craning jerks, slow and flitting strides, play-acting of mating pairs, gliding on the wings, shuffling of the fledgling and grief of the winged parents. All this speaks volumes of the labour that might go into it all and here unlike in Keibul Lamjao, over sentimen-talization is much avoided. For human beings in the form of animals should conform to the character of the latter. No less is the choreographer's keen sense of observation and the skill of licking the sequences into shape. The background music blows in a fresh puff of delight being the result of the music director's resourcefulness and his deft handling of a good ensemble of instruments. But it is preferred that he confines the melody, the tune within the precincts of traditionally recognised local music and avoids the temptations of the strains of Hindusthani/Western music. The light and sound (tape recorded) are very carefully handled so as to be of salutary help to the progress of the play. But the introduction of a quaintly dressed character symbolizing mother Nature (as shown in the top picture) is not demanded as she is of little use in the plot and also the director's attempt to read much into the story baring all beforehand as printed in the hand-bill. It is advisable to leave as far as practicable to the spectator's imagination. And Kadamba, Kadambi, names of the birds are not definitely Manipuri.

The present production has an edge on the Unit's previous one Keibul Lamjao as there everything had to be improvised on account of the lack of a story line. It shot into limelight because, apart from the nimble-footed Ibemu and her associates as dancing deer of its sheer topicality. Whereas Wainu Pareng based on a folk-tale, part of the treasure trove of Manipuri folklore, is already charged with dramatic elements. As there are variations, the identity of the source of the tale with at least the location should have been given. The write-up of the production leaves much to be desired in point of language, style of presentation and the print itself. In fact, it doesn't match the excellence of the performance as well as the prestige of the institution. I think, there is no harm in hiring an experienced hand to do this part. Lastly, it shall be a tall claim on the part of the Unit to appropriate to itself the epithet 'the best known repertory of Manipuri Dance and Music in the country.' For we cannot deny the place of R K Singhajit Singh who has been producing well-knit and decent ballets/dance-dramas as a choreographer and director based on the traditional arts of Manipur, under the banner of Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi for more than four decades with random collection of artistes on a shoe-string budget unlike those hand picked of the Academy. Chorus Repertory Theatre's productions of international repute are not obviously legitimate dramas, but dance-dramas of sorts drawn on the rich mine of Manipuri performing arts.

However, on the whole, the impressive performance of the artistes far outweighs any other shortfall in the production.