Audience: Middle School Students
Surabhi Verma (author of this article) performed Kathak on “O Re Piya” by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in February, 2020 at her middle school’s cultural event. She is wearing a traditional Kathak outfit. Photo by Bharat Verma.
I held my breath for one … two … ten seconds as I maintained a stiff tandav pose, mimicking Lord Shiva with one leg up and pointed diagonally. One hand perpendicular to the other, eyes wide and bold, my glare stung sharply, symbolizing the strength of Shiva. Lord Shiva – the creator, preserver, and destroyer – his third eye representing fire, his entire capacity revealed in one forceful pose. That is the beauty of Kathak.
Kathak (dating back to the 4th century BC) is one of nine Indian classical dances. It is especially known for its heavy focus on footwork and spins, making it unique from other dance forms. Kathak is derived from “Katha,” which means “story,” and “Kathakar,” which means “the one who tells a story.” These kathakars danced and sang epics and mythologies, which is how Kathak became a “story-telling” dance. These stories are dramatically told through delicate hand movements and complex and rhythmic footwork paired with specific facial expressions to display each type of emotion. During the Bhakti Movement – a movement which promoted a devotee’s connection to a specific deity and God’s reciprocated love for the devotee – Kathak underwent significant transformations and began implementing stories about Krishna, a Hindu God, as a child.
Another very unique factor about Kathak lies not solely in the dance itself but in its origins. Kathak has roots in both Hindu and Muslim cultures. The invasion of the Mughals, members of the Muslim Mongol Dynasty (roughly 1500s to 1700s), in India immensely affected the form of Kathak, playing a huge role in their royal courts. Kathak had turned into a dance of “sophisticated entertainment” and the influences of the Mughals on Kathak impacted Kathak to be what it is today. This makes Kathak the only Indian classical dance style that has Persian origins. Then, during the British Raj (roughly 1800s to 1900s), the British took over India, and Kathak presence reduced drastically. However, over time, Kathak has regained its popularity and has become one of the most popular dance forms in India.
The history of Kathak has shaped Kathak to be what it is today. Kathak has three main gharanas, which are distinctive musical styles: Lucknow, Jaipur, and Banaras gharanas. Each gharana varies slightly in footwork patterns and focuses on various expressions and hand movements. Additionally, Kathak has three main elements – Nritta, Nritya, and Natya. Nritta is the technical aspect of Kathak, including heavy focus on speed, pattern, and rhythm: the upper body is usually more stiff to enunciate the bottom half of the body. Nritya, on the other hand, focuses on the abhinaya (expressive part) of Kathak, such as spiritual ideas and feelings/emotions. Nritya is often portrayed with slower and more flexible body gestures, while Nritta is danced to faster rhythms. Nritya and Nritta together play a huge role in Kathak because Kathak is communicated through the eyes (Nritya) and the extensive foot movements (Nritta). Kathak dancers use their eyes to communicate either to the audience or a story. The eyebrows especially serve to enunciate the expressions. Lastly, natya focuses on specific body movements dedicated to a particular character, such as specific movements to depict Lord Shiva. These are often portrayed through an interpretive dance, imitating a character.
The Hindu and Muslim influences in Kathak are also displayed in the dance’s costumes. For Hindus, the female costume consists of a skirt that ends just above the ankle and flares as the dancer spins. A choli, or blouse, goes on the upper half of the body and a light, see-through, fabric scarf is sometimes placed over the dancer’s head, with extensive and heavy jewelry complementing the costume. Hindu men usually wear a dhoti, which are similar to baggy trousers, and avoid clothing on the upper body altogether, unless they opt to wrap a thread around them. In contrast, females wearing the Muslim costume wear a skirt with a churidar, which is similar to leggings, and Muslim males wear kurta-churidar. A kurta is a long, loose shirt of a distinctive fabric material. Dancers wear bells called ghungroos that tie around their ankles, further showcasing the emphasis on footwork. Each ghungroo can have anywhere from 50 to 200 bells.
Focusing on the feet, Kathak has a variety of taals that reveal the type of beat pattern that is being followed. For example, Teentaal has a 16 beat-cycle, meaning that after every 16 beats, the beat goes back to beat 1. On the other hand, a taal like Jhaptaal has only 10 beats, going back to “sum,” or beat 1, after every 10 beats. Every taal has different syllables and the cyclic footwork pattern changes depending on the taal. For example, Teentaal’s cyclic words are: Dha Dhin Dhin Dha, Dha Dhin Dhin Dha, Dha Tin Tin Ta, Ta Dhin Dhin Dha. The footwork pattern is: Right (foot) left (foot) R L, L R L R, R L R L, L R L R. So for Teentaal, on “sum,” we would say the word “Dha” and stomp our right foot.
Shifting the focus from the feet to the hands, Kathak has a variety of symbolic hand gestures called mudras. They can either be one-handed, called a Asamyuta Hasta mudra, or they can be two-handed, called a Samyukta mudra. Each mudra has its own name and serves to represent something. For example, the Ardhachandra mudra is shaped like a crescent moon, used to show feminine characters, beauty, balance, and/or ornaments.
These mudras and hand gestures are especially useful when dancing out a mythological story. Kathak is especially known to demonstrate various mythologies and often one dancer takes the role of many characters, showcasing the switch in characters by taking a spin. For example, consider the Makhan chori, which is a story about Krishna, who loves butter so much that he steals it (makhan chor translates to “butter thief”). His mother finds out and scolds him for stealing. In this story, a dancer may first take the role of Krishna, using facial expressions to show immense pleasure as they mimic Krishna enjoying the delicious butter. Then, the dancer will switch roles to Yashoda, Krishna’s mother, demonstrating anger and fury through aggressive facial expressions and more rigorous movements. Switching characters again, they will show Krishna’s point of view, scared and fearful of what his mother will do to him. In this way, any mythological story can be danced in Kathak.
I began learning Kathak when I was five years old, so I have been learning Kathak for about twelve years now. Though I initially despised it because of my inability to understand the point of learning it, over the years I have come to develop a strong passion for it. I see Kathak as a form of free expression and movement. While it is indeed interesting to learn the various taals and rhythmic patterns of Kathak, I truly enjoy the more expressive and lyrical part of it. This is why I have recently been self-choreographing Kathak dances to various Indian songs, such as Mohe Rang Do Laal from the movie Bajirao Mastani. I hope to be able to continue to pursue Kathak even as I grow older – in college and beyond, and I hope to inspire others to appreciate Kathak for its uniqueness and beauty as well.
Bibliography:
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Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.). Kathakali. In Britannica. Retrieved May 15, 2024, from https://www.britannica.com/art/kathakali
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Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.). Gharana. In Britannica. Retrieved May 15, 2024, from https://www.britannica.com/art/gharana
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