Acrobatic dancing has been part of Indian performing arts for as long as can be remembered, with spectacular examples recorded in almost every region of the subcontinent (for example, dollu kunitha of Karnataka, bandha nrutya and danda nata of Orissa, some of the Manipuri dances and so on)
('Dancing ancient texts and temple sculptures' by Alessandra Lopez y Royo)

The work 'Mridanga Sangraha' is attributed to Chandrakirti and contains extremely valuable details of playing the particular variety of drum called the khol in Manipuri. The other treatise, 'Sri Krishna Rasa Sangita Sangraha' by Bhakti Sidhanta was written earlier than the Mridanga Sangrha, it contains many of the lyrics to which the rasa dancers are performed today.

Chitra Visweswaran's mother was a dancer of Rabindra Nritya. Chitra's first lessons were in ballet when she was 3 in London. Later she learnt Manipuri and Kathak and Bharatanatyam from T A Rajalakshmi.

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