Kathak

Dance is a type of art that generally involves movement of the body, often rhythmic and to music. It is performed in many cultures as a form of emotional expression, social interaction, or exercise, in a spiritual or performance setting, and is sometimes used to express ideas or tell a story. Dance may also be regarded as a form of nonverbal communication.

Why to learn dance?

Probably the most important question a beginner or potential dancer should ask themselves, is why learn to dance?

We aren’t talking about why you should learn to dance, but rather why do you want to learn to dance.  What do you hope to do with your dance skills once you have them?

At first this might seem like a strange question but the answer will have a profound impact on your journey into the dance world.

There are many reasons why people learn to dance. The reasons we most commonly hear from our students  are :

•          Fitness
•          Weddings, parties, anything
•          Club Dancing
•          Competition and Medals
•          Performing
•          Artistic Expression
•          Love of Dance

 Kathak:

Kathak is one of the eight forms of Indian classical dances, originated from Northern India, India. This dance form traces its origins to the nomadic bards of ancient northern India, known as Kathakars or storytellers.  It is also synonymous with the community of artists known as Kathakas whose hereditary profession it was to narrate history while entertaining. With dance, music and mime these storytellers of ancient India would bring to life the great scriptures and epic so ancient times, especially the great Indian epics - the Mahabharata and the Ramayana - and the Puranas of Sanskrit literature. 

From its early form as a devotional expression dedicated to the Hindu gods, Kathak gradually moved out of the temples and into the courts of the rulers; the Hindu maharajas and the Muslim nawabs (kings). With these rulers' cultural wealth and preoccupation with lavish entertainment, a class of dancing girls and courtesans emerged to entertain the palaces. Much later, during the mid-1800's, Kathak enjoyed a renaissance and gained prominence among the kings and zamindars (feudal overlords) not only as a form of entertainment, but as a classical art form.  

There are three major schools or gharanas of Kathak from which performers today generally draw their lineage: the gharanas of Jaipur, Lucknow and Benares (born in the courts of the Kachwaha Rajput kings, the Nawab of Oudh, and Varanasi respectively); there is also a less prominent (and later) Raigarh gharana which amalgamated technique from all three preceding gharanas but became famous for its own distinctive compositions.

Today

Today, Kathak has regained its popularity after the period of decline during the rule of the British Empire (where it was frowned upon by Victorian administrators), and it is now one of the eight officially sanctioned classical dance forms of India. Kathak's current form is a synthesis of all the input it has had in the past: court and romantic aspects sit comfortably side-by-side with the temple and mythological/religious. The work of the Maharaj family of dancers (Acchan Maharaj, Shambhu Maharaj, Lachhu Maharaj and one of the great current dancers still alive today, Birju Maharaj) and his students including Saswati Sen have been very successful in spreading the popularity of Kathak. Another disciple of Acchan Maharaj is Sitara Devi, daughter of Sukhdev Maharaj of Banaras. Her lively, zestful and fiery performances have impressed many audiences. Shambhu Maharaj also trained Smt. Kumudini Lakhia, who, along with Birju Maharaj, has introduced the relative innovation of multi-person choreographies in Kathak, which was traditionally a solo dance form. She has gained a strong reputation for combining purely classical movements and style with distinctly contemporary use of space. Dr. Pandita Rohini Bhate from Pune, enriched Kathak repertoire creating a large corpus of dance compositions. Disciple of the most eminent Gurus of Lakhnau (Lachhu Maharaj) and Jaipur (Mohanrao Kalianpurlkar) she brought the best of both in her style. Her creation of several new Taals and her understanding of Layakari is also an immense contribution to Kathak. Rajashree Shirke, a disciple of Madhurita Sarang (who in turn is a disciple of Birju Maharaj), is playing a pioneer role in reviving the age-old of tradition of story telling in temples by Kathakars.

Lucknow Gharana

The Lucknow Gharana of Kathak dance came into existence mainly in the court of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah the ruler of Awadh in the early 19^th century. It was in this period that the Lucknow Gharana of Kathak attained maturity and perfection. This was due to the pioneering efforts of Thakur Prasad Maharaj, the court dancer and guru of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah and subsequently by his illustrious sons Bindadin Maharaj and Kalkadin Maharaj. Kalkadin Maharajji’s sons Achchan Maharaj, Lachu Maharaj and Shambhu Maharaj also contributed to the further development of this gharana style.

The Lucknow style or Kathak dance is characterized by graceful movements, elegance and natural poise with dance. Artistically designed dance compositions, emotive vocal compositions like thumris, dadras, horis along with abhinaya (expressional acting) and creative mprovisions are the hallmarks of this style. Presently, Pandit Briju Maharaj (son of Achchan Maharajji) is considered the chief representative of this gharana.

Why Learn Kathak Dance?

Dance is a great stress reliever. Kathak dance is particularly good because the movements and music flow to create a very peaceful atmosphere.

The emphasis on poses, expressions, and hand & body movement builds strength and can make your body look younger. It’s also a great way to lose weight and gain more energy. Studying Kathak will definitely add grace and confidence to your step. Another useful purpose for Kathak is at weddings and special events. Because it is a unique form of dance, it is particularly great to perform for such social occasions.