An Experience of the Festival of Tribal Dance - 2012
Favouring the Peripheral Cultures # 1

B.C. Khuman *

Chiru Dance at the Festival of Tribal Dance on March 26 2012 :: Picture Credit - Phurailatpam Banti

The open-air theatre of the J.N.M. Dance Academy, Imphal was reverberated with the titillating sounds of the indigenous musical instruments of the tribals, accompanying their lovely songs and exotic dances. The vast stage of the open-air theatre became alive with music, dance, songs and gorgeous costumes for three consecutive evenings of the 25th, 26th and 27th March, 2012.

Well, this time I developed my own method to make an ideal spectator of myself for a stage performance of tribal dance. I followed the following three useful tips, self-invented for my own purpose and they actually proved so much effective –
(1) Sit alone if possible; otherwise sit with strangers as your neighbours, and avoid talkative friends beside you as far as possible,
(2) transport your mind and heart imaginatively to the natural environment of a lovely hamlet, surrounded by misty mountains, where the dance item might be performed in the courtyard of the village chief, in the presence of excited villagers who also sing together with the chorus and sway along with the dancers,
(3) Don't try to assess any tribal dance by the standard of so-called classical dances.

You need to involve yourself mentally and emotively with the dance and music and thus vicariously share the festive mood with the performers in front of you. And, of course, feel the sanctity of the ritual parts too (which is perfunctorily avoided in stage performances). See the cheerful smiles and the sparkling eyes of the village folks, their gleeful laughter and pleasantries all around.

In a classical dance of Manipur like the Raas dance or the Maibee Jagoi of Lai-haraoba you relate yourself to a mystic kind of experience which is intensely personal, subjective and transcendental. Whereas in a tribal dance, just as in the Laibou Jagoi of Lai-haraoba or Thabal-chongba, you have to relate yourself to the ambience socially, objectively and impersonally, getting yourself merged in it not as an individual but as a member of the crowd, nay the community. In the first category the experience is within, in the second it is without.

As the sun was about to set and the warmth of the late afternoon receded slowly giving way to the pleasant hour of a spring-time evening, inside the campus of the JNMDA the vast stage of the open-air theatre became alive with the tribal music, dance, songs and their gorgeous costumes. Their colourful dresses, the exotic ornaments, the tools and weapons that constitute their dance costume speak of their splendid art of handicrafts.

The careful selection and meticulous arrangement of the natural objects for their ornaments to adorn the headgear, the ears, the neck, the chest, the arms, the legs, the waist, the hip etc. that include feathers and plumes of birds, wings of beautiful insects, rare shells etc. are testimonies to their admirable sense of visual aesthetics.

Most of the male dancers wear no shirts, and most of them use spears and swords, mithun horns, shields of hide, straps around the arms, the wrists, the ankles, the calves, while a few of the tribes use bamboo and cane products as parts of their dance costume. These instruments and ornaments are indicators of their hard way of living in the hilly terrains and their martial life once before.

O, the mithun-horn, the magical instrument! This percussion instrument, while beaten rhythmically by a stick to the tune of songs and beats of the dances, it gives forth a mesmerizing sound, reminiscent of a distant call of some cunning spirit. The uniqueness of this sound is that it is hard and stony, and at the same time miraculously soft and enchanting too.

I simply love to remember those three precious evenings. Thanks to the organiser of the festival i.e. the Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy, Imphal and also the Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi under whose financial support the 'Festival of Tribal Dance' was held in Imphal with twelve participating groups representing twelve ethnic tribes of Manipur. Next year, the number of participating troupes and the duration of the Festival will be increasing, the director of the Academy announced informally on the concluding day. The announcement was well-received by the public. Three days were too short, everybody complained.

The vigorous movements and quick steps of tribal dance symbolise their hard way of living. But they don't lack in soft and delicate movements or gestures too, though limited in quantity and variety. Their passionate feelings and romantic impulses are also manifested in their songs of love and separation, mourning songs and lullabies. The festival contained many of these aspects of tribal culture, though sparingly due to the limited number of participating troupes.

Some of the dances were excellently choreographed, for example, the performance of the Kom Cultural Dance & Research Centre, Khoirentak Khuman Village, Churachandpur District. And it was a pleasant surprise for a novice like me to find extremely delicate movements and gestures in the tribal dances such as the Moyon's particular number 'Haiyo Haiyo' performed by the Moyon Cultural Troupe, Khukthar Village, Chandel District.

I was ecstatic to know that some of the tribals of Manipur are so rich in traditional songs and oral literature as evidenced by the Maram folk songs which were rendered by the Tumoyong Khullen Dance Association, Tumoyong Khullen, Kangpokpi, Senapati District. Vigorous and powerful, though captivatingly subtle, is the quality of some of the tribal dances of Manipur that could strike a dance critic.

The war dance of the Marings, known as 'Lousa' is a clear instance. The Yaipharok Maring Cultural Group, Yaipharok, Senapati District won the hearts of the spectators with their war dance 'Lousa'. Who cannot but appreciate the expertise of the Chiru, the Aimol, the Tanglkhul etc in using indigenous musical instruments. In this festival the Kabuis, the Maos, the Taraos, the Hmars also faithfully presented their lyrical songs and beautiful dances with their colourful traditional attires reminding us of the cultural diversity of this tiny state.

It can be said that the success of the festival was partly attributable to the peaceful environment of the JNMDA. The open-air theatre, with a number of trees growing around it, provided a natural surrounding appropriate for the occasion. Moreover the stage-design was perfectly matching with the programme, if not the best one.

The three thatched constructions representing the majestic house of the village chief and two ordinary houses on bamboo platforms, the two large models of rocks – all these provided an authentic look and the typical atmosphere of a tribal village atop the hill. Thanks to the two artists Yumnam Gyaneshwar Singh, an awardee of Indira Gandhi National Museum Man and Robin Wahengbam, a product of Santiniketan, Visvarti University who collectively designed it at the minimum cost.

Oh, yes, as a part of the ongoing festival, there was also an exhibition of traditional dresses and other cultural artifacts of the participating tribes. The exhibition complemented the abiding spirit of the festival. Each of the item exhibited was a mute but eloquent narrator of a rich heritage.

The mind of the ancestors, the skills of the forefathers, their technological know-how and their artistic vision, the trials and tribulations of their history, their journey from barbarism to civilization, their sorrows and happiness – every bit of their experiences is concealed in the handicrafts they have inherited to their posterity, down to the present generation !