Sohini Ray | |
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Born | |
Other names | Sona |
Occupation(s) | Choreographer, Anthropologist |
Sohini Ray (born 25 August 1966) is a classical Manipuri dancer [1] [2] dance-researcher and anthropologist [1] from India currently based in Los Angeles, United States.
Ray studied Manipuri dance from age seven in Manipuri Nartanalaya, Kolkata under Guru Bipin Singh, Darshana Jhaveri and Kalavati Devi. She went through her initiation ceremony with Guru Bipin Singh at age eleven and started performing professionally at fourteen. [1] She was also Guru Bipin Singh's research assistant from age fourteen and received the national scholarship in Manipuri dance from the ministry of culture, Government of India in 1982. [1] Concurrently she did her schooling from Modern High School for girls, Kolkata, where she also performed in school functions.
Ray did her B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in anthropology from University of Calcutta. Later, she received her MA in dance and Ph.D. in anthropology from University California at Los Angeles. (Sanamahism). She was a fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard Divinity School [3] and faculty fellow in University of California, Humanities Research Institute, University of California, Irvine. She has taught in University of California, Irvine, University of California, Santa Barbara [4] and Santa Monica College and has many publications.
Sohini Ray is the founder and artistic director of Manipuri Dance Visions – Institute of Manipuri Dance in southern California. [5] She has performed, choreographed and directed many productions in classical Manipuri dance namely Harao-kummei: joyful celebrations in Manipuri dance, [5] Gita-Govinda, [6] Krishna-Ningshingba and has performed and toured Europe and North America and India, [7]
Jubilee prize, University of Calcutta, India, 1988 [1] National Scholarship, University of Calcutta, India, 1988 [1] University gold medal, University of Calcutta, India, 2011. JB Donne Prize in anthropology of art, Royal Anthropological Institute, 2009. [8]
Sharon Lowen is an American Odissi dancer, trained since 1975 by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. She has performed and choreographed for film and television and presented hundreds of concerts throughout India, North America, Asia, Africa, the United Kingdom. and the Middle East. Sharon came to India in 1973 after earning degrees in Humanities, Fine Arts, Asian Studies and Dance from the University of Michigan as a Fulbright Scholar to study Manipuri and later Chhau and Odissi.
The Meitei script, also known as the Kanglei script or the Kok Sam Lai script, after its first three letters is an abugida in the Brahmic scripts family used to write the Meitei language, the official language of Manipur, Assam and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is first known from engravings on 6th century CE coins and copper plate inscriptions. as verified by the various publications of the National Sahitya Akademi. It was used until the 18th century, when it was replaced by the Bengali alphabet. A few manuscripts survive. In the 20th century, the script was revived and is again being used. Beginning in 2021, the Government of Manipur began to use the Meitei alongside the Bengali-Assamese script, per the Manipur Official Language (Amendment) Act, 2021.
Chitresh Das was a classical dancer of the North Indian style of Kathak. Born in Calcutta, Das was a performer, choreographer, composer and educator. He was instrumental in bringing Kathak to the US and is credited with having established Kathak amongst the Indian diaspora in America. In 1979, Das established the Chhandam School of Kathak and the Chitresh Das Dance Company in California. In 2002, he founded Chhandam Nritya Bharati in India. There were ten branches of Chhandam worldwide. Until his death in 2015, Das taught dance as a way of life, a path for attaining self-knowledge and as a service to society.
Rajkumar Singhajit Singh, is a leading exponent, choreographer and a guru of Indian classical dance form of Manipuri, including the Pung cholom and Raslila. He was awarded with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1984 and the Padma Shri in 1986 for his contribution to the Manipuri dance. In the year 2011, Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's The National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama, awarded him with its highest award, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for his contribution to Indian Dance. In 2014 he was also conferred with the Tagore Award.
Koel Mallick is an Indian actress who appears in Bengali films. She is the daughter of actor Ranjit Mallick and Deepa Mallick. She made her film debut with Nater Guru (2003) opposite Jeet, which was a box office-success. Some of her popular films are Shubhodrishti (2005), Mon Mane Na (2008), Premer Kahini (2008), Paglu (2011), Paglu 2 (2012), Rangbaaz (2013), Arundhati (2014) and Besh Korechi Prem Korechi (2015).
Darshana Jhaveri, the youngest of the four Jhaveri sisters, is a leading Indian exponent of Manipuri dance, an Indian classical dance form. She is a disciple of Guru Bipin Singh, and started performing on stage in 1958 along with her sisters. She is one of the founders of the Manipuri Nartanalaya in 1972, which popularized Manipuri dance in India, and is currently headed by her, with centres at Mumbai, Kolkata and Imphal.
Guru Bipin Singh was a director, choreographer and teacher of Manipuri dance.
Sundari K. Shridharani was the founder and director of Triveni Kala Sangam, a multi-arts institution, which she established in 1950.
Phoring is a 2013 Bengali feature drama film directed by Indranil Roychowdhury. It was produced by Chitrabeekshan Audio Visual PVT LTD., and is 126 minutes long. The film won the Prasad Labs post-production completion award for 2012.
Sharmila Biswas is a leading dancer, choreographer and Teacher in the field of Indian Classical Dance. She is recognized for her considerable contribution to Odissi Classical Dance which brought many changes in the Content, Technique and Costumes. Tracing the many facades of Traditional Performing and Visual arts of Odisha, and in that context viewing Odissi Dance have been the foundation of most of her Dance productions. A prominent deciple of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, a Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee (2012), Sharmila Biswas heads Odissi Vision & Movement Centre (1994), a well-known institution dedicated to Research, Training and Productions. Graded as an ‘Outstanding’ artiste by The Indian Council of Cultural Relations, Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. Of India. Graded as one of the ‘Top’ artists by Doordarshan, India. In 2012, Biswas was awarded Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, conferred by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama.
Elam Endira Devi, is an Indian classical dancer and teacher, known for her expertise and scholarship in the classical dance form of Manipuri, especially in the genres of Lai Haraoba and Raas. The Government of India honored her, in 2014, with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for her services to the field of art and culture.
Rani Karnaa was an Indian classical dancer, known for her proficiency in the Indian dance form of Kathak, and regarded by many as one of the greatest exponents of the art form. She was honoured by the Government of India, in 2014, by bestowing on her the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for her services to the field of dance.
Khangembam Mangi Singh, popularly known as Guru Pena Mangi, was an Indian musician, known for his expertise on the Manipuri traditional musical instrument Pena. The Government of India honored him in 2011, with the fourth highest civilian award of Padma Shri.
Haobam Ongbi Ngangbi Devi was an Indian classical dancer and musician, known for her expertise in the Manipuri Dance forms of Lai Haraoba and Raas. In 2010, the Government of India awarded Haobam Ongbi Ngangbi Devi the Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award.
Sidaba Mapu or Salailel is the Supreme god, creator of Universe and the Sky God in Sanamahism, the indigenous religion of Manipur. According to Meitei mythology, Sidaba Mapu, being the Creator of the Universe, from a philosophical theory known as Leithak Leikharol Nongsemlon and Leisemlon.
Kshetrimayum Ongbi Thouranisabi Devi is an Indian classical dancer and author, specialising in the Indian classical dance form of Manipuri. She was honoured by the Government of India in 2003 with Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award.
Sougaijam Thanil Singh is an Indian classical dancer, known for his proficiency in the classical dance forms of Manipuri and Nata Sankirtana. Born to S. Ksher Singh, a Manipuri dancer, in the Northeast Indian state of Manipur, he received his early training from his father as well as Guru Tombi Sharma, Guru Bhaigchandra Singh and Guru Koireng Singh. Later, he studied Manipuri dance and Nata Sankirtana, under Maisnam Amubi Singh, renowned dancer and Padma Shri awardee, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy, Imphal, securing a diploma and a post graduate diploma, respectively, in the disciplines.
Yumlembam Gambhini Devi is an Indian singer of Nata Sankirtana and dancer of Manipuri Raas. She is a member of faculty at Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy (JNMDA) and a recipient of the 1988 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2005, for her contributions to Manipuri dance and music.
Thingbaijam Babu Singh was an Indian classical dancer, academic and choreographer of the Indian classical dance form of Manipuri. He was the Pradhan Guru of Pung and Raas traditions of Manipuri dance at the Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy of the Sangeet Natak Akademi. Born on 8 February 1936 at Lairensajik, a small village in the state of Manipur, he was known to have been one of the notable choreographers and teachers of Manipuri dance and had a long line of renowned performers such as Elam Endira Devi, Ibemubi Devi, and Priti Patel, as his students. Singh was the author of a book, Meitei Punglon Raga Ahouba, and was a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for the year 1990. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2007, for his contributions to Manipuri dance.
Puya Meithaba, or Lairik Meithaba, refers to the annual commemoration of a legendary 18th-century scripture burning in post-colonial Manipur by a neo-convert Vaishnavite King, or to the original libricide of Puyas itself. There is no historical evidence that the libricide happened. Nonetheless, the commemoration, organised by the Meitei National Front and others since 1979, has been a critical tool in the spread of Meitei nationalism and has mainstreamed a particular reconstruction of premodern Manipur, which has come to be uncritically reproduced even in academic publications.