8/29/2016 Kathak Dance
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Kathak Dance
Resources Performing Arts Classical Dances Kathak Dance
1. Dances of India
• Classical Dances
Bharatnatyam Dance Kathak Dance
Kathakali Dance
The word Kathak has been derived from the word Katha which means a story. Kathakars or
Kathak Dance
storytellers, are people who narrate stories largely based on episodes from the epics, myths
Manipuri Dance and legends. It probably started as an oral tradition. Mime and gestures were perhaps added
Odissi Dance later on to make the recitation more effective. Thus evolved a simple form of expressional
Kuchipudi Dance dance, providing the origins of what later developed into Kathak as we see it today.
Sattriya Dance
Mohiniyattam Dance
The Vaishnavite cult which swept North India in the 15th century. and the resultant bhakti
2. Music of India movement contributed to a whole new range of lyrics and musical forms. The RadhaKrishna
theme proved immensely popular alongwith the works of Mirabai, Surdas, Nandadas and
• Hindustani Classical Music
Krishnadas.
• Carnatic Classical Music
• Regional Music
• Musical Instruments Thate, Basic position
3. Theatre Forms of India
• Theatre Forms
4. Puppet Forms of India
• Puppet Forms
The emergence of Raslila , mainly in the Braj region (Mathura in Western U.P.) was an
important development. It combined in itself music, dance and the narrative. Dance in
Raslila, however, was mainly an extension of the basic mime and gestures of
the Kathakars or storytellers which blended easily with the existing traditional dance.
With the coming of the Mughals, this dance form received a new impetus. A transition from
the temple courtyard to the palace durbar took place which necessitated changes in
presentation. In both Hindu and Muslim courts, Kathak became highly stylised and came to
be regarded as a sophisticated form of entertainment. Under the Muslims there was a
greater stress on nritya and bhavagiving the dance graceful, expressive and sensuous
dimensions.
Raslila, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh
Taking Pireouttes
The nineteenth century saw the golden age of Kathak under the patronage of Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Oudh. He
established the Lucknow gharana with its strong accent on bhava, the expression of moods and emotions. The
Jaipur gharana known for its layakari or rhythmic virtuosity and the Benaras gharana are other prominent schools of Kathak dance.
The technique of movement in Kathak is unique to it.
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. There are no deflections and no use of sharp bends or curves of
the upper or lower part of the body. 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.
Salami
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.
As in Bharatnatyam, Odissi and Manipuri, Kathak also builds its pure dance sequences by combining units of movement. The
cadences are called differently by the names tukra, tora, and parana, all indicative of the nature of rhythmic patterns used
and the percussion instrument accompanying the dance. The dancer commences 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 theSalami (salutation).
Then follow the various combinations of rhythmic passages all punctuated with and culminating in a number of pirouettes. The
pirouettes are the most characteristic feature of the dance style in nritta portions. Recitation of the rhythmic syllables is
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8/29/2016 Kathak Dance
common; the dancer often pauses to recite these to a specified metrical cycle followed by execution through movement.
The nritta portion of Kathak is performed to the nagma. Both the drummer (here the drum is either a pakhawaj, a type of
mridangam, or a pair of tabla) and the dancer weave endless combinations on a repetitive melodic line. The metrical
cycle (tala) of 16, 10, 14 beats provides the foundation on which the whole edifice of dance is built.
Angika Abhinaya
In the mime portions (nritya or abhinaya), words are not used in simple numbers called the gata, which is
performed in a lyrical manner to gentle rhythm. These are short narrative pieces which portray a brief episode from
Krishna's life. 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 the same fashion as in Bharatnatyam or
Odissi. Both 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
Dancer with Musicians other, and the dancer's greatness lies in his 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. Further, Kathak is the only form of classical dance wedded to Hindustani or the North Indian music. Both of
them have had a parallel growth, each feeding and sustaining the other.
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