Meepao: Contemporary Dance Performance

by Surjit Nongmeikapam

Fri 27 Jan, 6:10 pm

Meepao is a dance in celebration of all the departed, especially the ones who are deemed

inconsequential. Using minimal movements, meepao invites the spectator into a space where dancers and non-dancers alike can join in this celebration. It begins with simple movements of the feet. The movements repeat, as though creating their own ritual, and find their depth and texture through the synchronicity of bodies dancing together to the beat of live music. They slowly transcend into a liminal space where the living (mee) convey a message (pao) of harmony.

Concept/Scenography/Choreography

Surjit Nongmeikapam. He is an award-winning (PECDA) choreographer of “Nerves” (2014) and “Folktale” (2016). He has been awarded AMI Arts Festival Youth Award for Performing Art 2021. He wants his work to express different emotions and as a healing process. He tries to keep his artwork alive without any fixed notation or choreography. He creates art forms that can be created from the unseen culture of his Manipuri roots. Currently the artistic director of the Nachom Arts Foundation, he is one of the few choreographers committed to the development of a contemporary dance community in Manipur.

Cast & Credits

Performers

• Surjit Nongmeikapam

• Yengkokpam Purnima Devi

• Senjam Hemjit (Tombi)

• Sumeet Sagolsem

• Yanglem Luckyson

• Joshua Sailo

• Chungkham Bicky

• Ringwon T Ngahor

Live Music

• Heisnam Shantanu Singh

Lights

• Surjit Nongmeikapam

Rehearsal Director

• Joshua Sailo

Documentation/Media

• Tushar Nongthombam

Costume

• Yengkokpam Purnima Devi

Production Manager

• Suresh Kiran Singh Khundrakpam (Tomba)