Embodied was first performed in March 2020 at the Dharamshala Residential & International Festival for Theatre. It was when fear of Covid was looming gradually. The festival was publicly funded and collectively organized where participating artists, volunteers and organizers stayed at the same apartment, cooked, ate, and slept together. The festival was built as a collective celebration where everyone had a role to play, duties were shared like cleaning, cooking, taking care of techs, light, sound and many more. There was also an aged lady from the neighborhood who would often drop by to give us her homemade jam. 

Embodied took shape in this space and time. The first performance ran like a trial with technical errors and audience warmly encouraging the missteps as the performance tried to find its ground. Embodied began as an exploration in 2020 between Surjit Nongmeikapam, a contemporary dancer and choreographer, and Babina Chabungbam, a classical Manipuri dancer who was then doing her research on Manipuri performing arts, especially the Raas Leela (Jagoi Raas) of Manipur. It was based on a simple proposition to translate the research into a performative text. It was an attempt to transcend the realm of the written text while seeking avenues of presenting Manipuri dance differently. One that engages the audience to seek deeper beyond the glittery costumes, embellishments, or a simple joy of watching something ‘exotic’. More importantly, it asks the fundamental question about what constitutes the essence of Manipuri dance. 

Embodied presents a panoramic view of dances of Manipur where different snippets are taken from traditional dance forms and modern choreographies. They are assembled in an order that narrates the trajectory of Manipuri dance since the eighteenth century. The performance begins with a short piece from Raas Leela. Raas Leela, often synonymously understood with Manipuri dance is based on Vaishnavite theme of love-play between Krishna, Radha and the cowherd girls. This dance tradition was introduced in Manipur in the eighteenth century when the influence of vaishanvism reached a pinnacle. Given the indigenous (pre-Vaishnavite) revival movement in Manipur today, Raas Leela is seen as a religious colonization of the land, altering its cultural history by erasing the indigenous religion and culture of its people. Embodied attempts to unfold this layer of religious and cultural colonization, quite literally by shedding the layers of costumes on stage. The performance begins with two short dance sequences from Raas Leela and followed by modern dance compositions and the pre-Vaishanvite dance. In each juncture, the layer of costume is shed as though shedding the layers of cultural and religious colonization.