Contemporary dancer Surjit Nongmeikapam’s current piece draws on Manipur’s turbulent records
When Manipuri dancers Waikhom Biken and Senjam Hemjit took to the level at Delhi’s India International Centre’s auditorium final week, as a part of the ArtEast competition, their dance piece one sq feet added returned annoying flashbacks. Images of Syrian refugees escaping their place of origin, sitting atop boats, dressed in lifestyle jackets and misplaced within the 
Mediterranean Sea came speeding to the mind with this dance overall performance, choreographed via award-prevailing choreographer Surjit Nongmeikapam when the two dancers recreated the body actions of rowing a ship the use of a tall bamboo stick. The existence-threatening adventure taken via immigrants to seek a better location forms the crux of the 30-minute dance piece. Manipur-born Nongmeikapam, 32, is dragged using co-dancers Bike and Hemjit, who’ve achieved along with him in his dance productions in the beyond, as his body lies atop a bamboo stick held through the duo, indicating the onslaught of illness on their sea adventure.
We can’t help but remember the haunting photo of the deceased frame of the 3-year-old-antique Syrian refugee Aylan Kurdi that washed up on a Turkish beach in September 2015. The idea for one sq. Toes, says Nongmeikapam, came from the tales that his grandmother, Pishak Nongmeikapam, narrated to him as a baby, of her experiences in Manipur at some stage in the Battle of Imphal in 1944, while the Japanese attempted to get rid of the allied forces in Imphal and their unsuccessful attempt at invading India. Her memories shape the first narrative of the performance. Nongmeikapam says, “As a child, I used to pay attention to the Japanese conflict and how my grandmother suffered.
She had to run to unique locations to survive. There have been quite a few air moves, even in Manipur. One of the most critical battles occurred in Imphal and Kohima during the Second World War, and plenty of Japanese, Indian, and British soldiers died during that duration. I understand now that such wars are occurring, and those are escaping for their lifestyles and surviving.” Co-founding father of Nachom Arts Foundation in Manipur focuses on present-day art actions. Nongmeikapam says, “This painting is called one sq. It was due to the fact our properties are named in those terms. We always ask asset sellers and proprietors what square feet of land they have. When I travel, I want one square foot to face freely, but there is no such area these days.” His works have toured several international locations, which include France, America, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. His closing piece, Nerves, gave voice to the indigenous groups of Manipur, in which dancers in a tribal loincloth and army footwear took center stage.
