Kathak..."the art of storytelling."

Kathak is one of the most well known classical dance forms of India.

Kathak is said to be derived from the word katha, meaning "the art of storytelling."

The Kathak dance form originated in north India and was very similar to the Bharatnatyam dance form. In ancient India, there were Kathakars or bards who used to recite religious and mythological tales to the accompaniment music, mime and dance.

Kathak dances are performed straight-legged and the ankle bells (ghunghroos) worn by the dancers are skillfully controlled. In Kathak dance the emphasis is more on footwork as against hasta mudras or hand formations in Bharatnatyam dance. Kathak dance can be performed by both men a

nd women. A Kathak dancer is not required strictly to stick to fixed steps and stages in.

Traditionally, there are between a hundred and two hundred Ghunghroos tied around the ankles that act as the dancer's instruments to convey the sound patterns. A unique feature performed by some dancers is to maintain a steady balance and produce sound of a single ghunghroo.

Nritta means pure Dance. It is not interpretative or expressional dance. Nritta is dependent on two basic ingredients, Tala and Laya . The tala denotes a time cycle and the laya denotes the speed or tempo. The rhythm being cyclic, it rises from the first beat and reflows to the first beat, completing a round. The ‘sum’ is the beginning of first beat of any tala and piece to be danced has to end on the same beat in the same tala.

Some commonly used terms are as follows.

Tatkar:- It offers scintillating patterns of sound imagery which is produced by dexterously manipulating the pace of footwork and the cadence of the ankle bells. The dancer uses feet to perform various complicated talas and its fractions. In a way, it is the aesthetic demonstration of the infinite divisibility of time.

The basic bols of tatkar are: -

Ta Thei Thei tat

Tihai: - A rhythmic pattern three times in succession.

Thaat: - Thaat in general means, decoration or a graceful attitudes. In thaat, dancer uses gentle and delicate

movements of the wrists and the neck with eye glances in most effective and arrested manner. It is done to develop the mood of artist.

Aamad: - It is said that with aamad, a dancer used to make an entry on the stage and offer a salutation or greetings.

Toda: - In a Toda, a dancer performs to the composition of the time beats in rhythmic cycle arriving on the sum. Generally a tihai is also interwoven at the end of toda. A small toda is known as Tukda. A variety of todas and tukdas are complex in its nature and rich in its arrangement of beats.

Paran: - A variety of compositions having bolo played exclusively on Pakhavaj are called parans. Pakhavaj is a percussion instrument on which heavier bols are played.

Paremelu: - The compositions based on bolos of variety of percussion instruments are called paremelu. Such compositions are also influenced with scenic beauty of nature, chirping of birds an

d sounds of small creatures.

Padhant: -The recitation of the bolos known as padhant itself is an art and is a communication with percussionist.

There is enough scope for improvisation and spontaneity in this rich classical art form. Nritta is meant to convey a sense of pure joy of movement and rhythm. In Nritta the beauty lies in correct rendering of the rhythmic patterns by the feet and graceful movements of the limbs.

Today, Kathak is characterized by the flowing lyrical movements, fast rhythmic footwork set to complex time cycles and an in-depth interpretive aspect that is brought forth in abhinaya or expressive pieces.