Kathak

Kathak: A Story-telling Dance Form
Telling a story through a dance form is the base of the Indian classical danceKathak. The word Kathak has been derived from the Hindi word Katha, which
means a story. Story-tellers or Kathakars existed in the country for ages.
They narrated stories largely based on episodes from the epics, myths and
legends. Miming, gesturing and facial expressions was added to this oral
form of story-telling. This is considered to be the origin of Kathak, which
involves story-telling in an expressional dance form.
The story-tellers were poets of ancient Northern India. These poets
performed in village squares and temple courtyards. Their stories were
mostly related to recounting of mythological and moral tales from the
scriptures. This was accompanied by instrumental and vocal music.
The Vaishnavite cult, which swept North India in the 15 th century and the
resultant bhakti movement contributed to a whole new range of lyrics and
musical forms. The Radha-Krishna theme proved immensely popular along
with the works of Mirabai, Surdas, Nandadas and Krishnadas. All these were
used by the Kathakars and adopted in Kathak, which was a resultant of the
art of the Kathakars. This was the time for the introduction of Raaslila.
Kathak, like various other dance forms, was initially confined to the temples,
but with the Mughals invading India, this dance form was taken by them to
their courts. This led to the performers of Kathak refining its dramatic and
rhythmic footwork, delighting the elite audiences with their mastery over
rhythm and the stylised mime.
Kathak uses fast rhythmic footwork set to complex time cycles. The footwork
is matched by the accompanying percussion instruments such as tabla and
pakhawaj and the dancer and percussionists often play with speed and
ending in statuesque poses. The story portion, based on tales of Radha and
Krishna and other mythological lore, contains subtle gestures and facial
expressions. Lucknow, Banaras and Jaipur are the three recognised schools
or gharanas, where this art was born and where the aspects were refined to
a high standard.
The Lucknow Gharana has strong accent on bhava, the expression of moods
and emotions and the Jaipur Gharana is known for its layakari or rhythmic
virtuosity.
The Banaras Gharana is known for its Natawari compositions, where
rhythmic syllables correspond to the sound created by the feet striking the
ground. When they are played on the tabla and pakhawaj, they have to be
translated into bol that these instruments play. It also involves the striking of
the heels to a great extent, which is not the case with the other gharanas.
The Banaras Gharana was founded by Pandit Jankiprasad. It is said that his
in-laws gave him a single composition written on a scrap of paper as dowry,
expecting him to create his wealth from it. He was offended and walked away
from his marriage, dedicating himself to dance.
There is no Mughal influence on the Banaras Gharana performances,
because its dancers were never employed by Mughal courts. They worked for
Hindu kings so there is use of bhajans, padas and thumris in it.
Since it started being performed in the courts of the Mughals, changes were
introduced in its presentation. Distinct styles were developed by the Hindu
and Muslim court performers. The Muslims performers gave greater stress on
nritya and bhava making the dance graceful, expressive and sensuous.
The nineteenth century can be said to be the golden age of Kathak under the
patronage of Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Oudh. He established the
Lucknow Gharana.
In Kathak, the weight of the body is equally distributed along the horizontal
and vertical axis. The full foot contact is of prime importance, where only the
toe or the ball of the foot are used, their function is limited. Torso movements
emerge from the change of the shoulder line rather than through the
manipulations of the backbone or upper chest and lower waist muscles. In
the basic stance, the dancer stands straight, holds one hand at a level higher
than the head and the other is extended out on the level of the shoulder.
The technique is built by the use of an intricate system of footwork. Pure
dance (nritta) is all important, where complex rhythmic patterns are created
through the use of the flat feet and the control of sound of the ankle bells
worn by the dancer.
The dancer commences a performance with a sequence called That where
soft gliding movements of the neck, eyebrows and the wrists are introduced.
This is followed by a conventional formal entry known as the Amad (entry)
and the Salami (salutation).
This is followed by various combinations of rhythmic passages all punctuated
with and culminating in a number of pirouettes (turning of the body on toes).
The pirouettes are the most characteristic feature of the dance style in nritta
portions.
A poetic line set to music is interpreted with gestures in other numbers, such
as the tumri, bhajan, dadra - all lyrical musical compositions. In these
sections, there is a word to word or line to line synchronisation
In nritta (pure dance) and the abhinaya (mime) there is immense scope for
improvisation of presenting variations on a theme. The interpretative and the
abstract dance techniques are interwoven into each other and the dancer's
greatness lies in his/her capacity for improvisation on the melodic and metric
line on the one hand and the poetic line on the other.
Today, Kathak has emerged as a distinct dance form. Being the only classical
dance of India having links with Muslim culture, it represents a unique
synthesis of Hindu and Muslim genius in art. Kathak is the only form of
classical dance wedded to Hindustani or the North Indian music
The musical instruments used in Kathak are Pakwaj, Tabla, Harmonium,
Sarengi and Cymbals.

Kathak

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Kathak: A Story-telling Dance Form

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