REVIEWS OF MANIPURI DANCE VISIONS
An evening of classical dance from North East India, performed by the Manipuri dance visions ensemble, directed by Dr. Sohini Ray, was organized on 2nd July 2009 in the Indian Embassy, Berlin as a closing event of the Festival of Indian Classical Dances. ……The outstanding performances by the artists were very well-received and acknowledged by the packed audience…….
Rakesh Ranjan, Cultural dept. officer
Manipuri Dance Visions Ensemble from California, USA led by master artist Dr. Sohini Ray presented an evening of classical Manipuri dances from India on 27 June 2009 as a part of Clare Hall’s Divertimento series. The company presented a repertoire of classical Indian dance basing its themes on Hindu mythologies and I was struck by the aesthetic. The performers showed arduous training and professionalism, and the costumes along with the audio-visual elements very meticulously done……
Sir Martin Harris, President, Clare Hall, Cambridge University, UK.
Manipuri Dance Visions has recently received a grant from the Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA).
"....Basant Raas presented by lead dancers from Manipuri DanceVisions Ensemble (chreographer Sohini Ray) was a guest performance.
The only Manipuri Dance company on the west coast brought to the evening an excerpt from one of the Rasleelas where Lord Krishna,
his consort Radha and her friends, the gopis celebrate Holi during the spring season. The beautifully crafted movements, the variety
of gestures, and and acute attentiveness to twirling and visuals enhanced the fragility and innocence of a cherished dance form......"
Prem Kishore in India Post, May 7, 2008
Glimpses of the alluring sweetness and serenity of classical dance from the isolated northeastern Indian state of Manipur are rare in Los Angeles, where India is most often represented by its dynamic southern idioms. But a carefully wrought program titled “Harao-Kummei: Joyful celebrations in Dance” brought a sampling of Manipuri traditions to the Foundation Theatre on Saturday….
With choreography and music (on tape) credited to the late Bipin Singh, the performance showcased Sohini Ray and members of her locally based Manipuri Dance Visions Ensemble, focusing on refined statements of Hindu and pre-Hindu devotion…
The “Basant Ras” excerpt from a temple ritual showed the god Krishna at play with gopi women…..The gestural delicacy and vivacity of the interplay sometimes yielded to moments of virtuosity: a circuit of turns on her knees by Ray as Krishna, for example. More often, the graceful spinning of the gopis and the deft sorties of Krishna made the piece a sublime flirtation game. Krishna’s wooing of Radha (Krishnakali Dasgupta) gave the piece a dramatic context also underpinning the charming solo “Sakshat Darshan” in which Ray described with her hands, facial expressions and rhythmic footwork Radha’s first date with god. The intimacy of Fountain Theater proved ideal for appreciation of pantomimic detail more than the execution of steps or any movements in space.
That intimacy also served 9-year old Dasni Lakpriya in Maibi Jagoi” , a pre-Hindu festival dance featuring simple body-sways, skip-steps, fluttering hands and a few bold reaches that swept down to the floor and then up over head…..besides the dancers previously mentioned the company included Naila Azad and Alma Cielo…”
Lewis Segal, Los Angeles times, October 29, 2007.
"In a program of solos and duets from the Northeastern state of Manipur, the northeastern state of Manipur, Wednesday at the Fountain Theater in Hollywood, energy became a kind of spatial decoration, delicately applied with curling fingers, torsos that smoothly dipped and swiveled, feet lightly kicking or hopping. The guiding sensibility remained sweet yet sophisticated, the recurring theme the love between the Hindu deities Krishna and Radha."
"Staged to commemorate the founding of Manipuri Dance Visions, a Pasadena training academy, the performance featured Sohini Ray
and Sucharita Sharma, women who appeared in contrasting male and female roles…."
Lewis Segal in Los Angeles Times.
"The solo by Sucharita Sharma was performed in tandav style and demonstrated the subtle movements while the solo by Sohini Ray was
performed in lasya style and showcased its emotional and stylistic depth. The performance brought out the rich diversity of rare
dance form and was warmly received by an audience……."
India Post.