Kathak: An Indian Dance

Kathak is an Indian classical dance.  It originated from northern India and it is part of the 8 classical dance forms in Indian culture.  Its historical origins can be traced back to the nomadic settlers who used to populate the northern area of ancient India.  These nomadic bards were known as the storytellers or the Kathaks, thus the name of the dance.

These nomadic bards used to display their performances in village centers or in large temples.  They specialized mostly in telling stories of mythological characters and in stories with moral relevance that they have taken from religious scriptures.  They were able to make their stories more compelling and crowd drawing by embellishing them with theatrical gestures of the hand and body, and by dramatic facial expressions.  Performances were exemplary of a theatrical show.  There was instrumental music and vocal song that accompanied the entire performance.  These added even more life and excitement to the stories being told.

The current form of Kathak today contains many of the characteristics of the temple and ritual dances that were performed then.  It also contains some influences brought about by the Bhakti movement.  Persian dance characteristics were absorbed by the Kathak dance during the 16^th century while central Asian dance influences were inculcated into the dance during the Mughal era.

Kathak has 3 “gharanas” or major schools of dance.  These schools determine the lineage of the Kathak performers of today.  These gharanas are: the Jaipur, the Lucknow, and the Benares.  The Jaipur was born out of the courts of the kings of Kachwaha Rajput; the Lucknow out of the courts of Nawab of Oudh; while the Benares out of the courts of the Varanasi.  A minor school of dance of Kathak is the Raigarh.  This is a less prominent school of dance because it developed much later than the 3 major ones and it was seen as an amalgamation of the three major dance schools.  However, it gained some ground when it started to develop its own unique and very distinctive dance compositions.

During the period of British Empire rule in India, Kathak prominence suffered a decline due to the disdain for this dance among the Victorian administrators.  It has however steadily regained its popularity in the modern period and is now officially sanctioned as one of the classical dance forms of India of which there are eight.  This current form of Kathak is a fusion of the different influences it had absorbed during its history.  This means that the romantic and the court aspects of the dance mix in comfortably with the temple, mythical, and religious aspects.

The popularity of the modern Kathak dance has been attributed mostly to the Maharaj family.  The most popular dancers of the Kathak dance are members of this family.  This includes one of the greatest dancers of this dance – Birju Maharaj - who is still championing the Kathak to this day.  Other members of the Maharaj family are: Acchan Maharaj, Lachhu Maharaj, and Shambhu Maharaj.  Saswati Sen, a student of Birju Maharaj, is also one of the most popular dancers of the Kathak today.