Jawaharlal Nehru Manipuri Dance Academy
The following extract is from a report published in 1970 by the late Sanasam Gourahari Singh, Ex-officio Secretary, Jawaharlal Nehru Manipuri Dance Academy.
"He (Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru) was deeply impressed by the splendour of Manipuri dance and the
high philosophy behind it. He at once realised that Manipuri dance was worth preserving and
spreading. The idea of establishing a college of Manipuri dance strongly worked in his mind
and he started taking steps in order that there might not be any missing link in the stream.
He rejected the proposal of some of his advisors connected with cultural affairs to locate it
somewhere in Shilling or other places outside Manipur. To ensure the unfailing growth of the
pristine purity of Manipuri dancing his argument was that its study should be conducted within
its native environments, Manipur. As it was a new thing there was some delays in the efforts
for the starting of the institute. He warned officers and told them to avoid interminable delays.
He was so anxious that pending the decision as to the perennial source of fund for the
institute he placed at the disposal of Shri R.P. Bhargava, I.C.S, the then Chief Commissioner
of Manipur twelve thousand rupees from his Prime Minister's Fund and directed that the
Manipur Dance Institute should be established without any delay even in a hired house. A
beginning had to be made somehow or other."
- Source: A booklet published for JNMDA Annual Function, 1970
Today the Academy, a constituent Unit of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi, is the premier institution for teaching of Manipuri Dance and Music and allied subjects like Thang-Ta. It offers comprehensive courses on the abovementioned subjects. The institution has on its staff, teachers of eminence and a Production Unit with a large repertoire of critically acclaimed dance dramas.
More than 50 dancers and musicians have graduated with 3-year Post Diploma Course and 150 dancers and musicians have completed 3-year Diploma Course. The Production Unit hase added several dance dramas to its repertoire and the artistes of the Academy present programmes of Manipuri Dance and Music in various places. The Academy organises the JNMDA Festivals of Dance and Music.