THE STAGE REPERTOIRE
In the early twentieth century during the peak of Indian national movement the Indian performing arts was moving from the temple arena to the secular stage. Manipuri dance became a part of this movement.
Two pioneers of India, Uday Shankar and Rabindranath Tagore took a special interest in Manipuri dance. Uday Shankar appointed the late Guru Amubi Singh to train his company in his centre in Almora; and Rabindranath Tagore invited several Manipuri dance teachers from Sylhet (now in Bangaladesh) to teach dance in his institution in Santiniketan.
Several Indian dance institutions in Mumbai and Kolkata invited Manipuri artists to teach their students. Various gurus came forward at that time to create the stage repertoire of Manipuri dance drawing from the temple tradition. Guru Bipin Singh was one of them.
The gharana (school)
Guru Bipin Singh
Guru Bipin Singh (1918-2000) needs no introduction in the field of Manipur dance. He took intensive training in dance and pung from numerous teachers in Manipur and Cachar and became a visionary master teacher of Manipuri dance training a whole generation of artists in the field.