Kathak:

Kathak (Hindi: कथक) is one of the eight forms of Indian classical dance. This dance form traces its origins to the nomadic bards of ancientnorthern India, known as Kathakars or storytellers. Its form today contains traces of temple and ritual dances, and the influence of thebhakti movement. From the 16th century onwards it absorbed certain features of Persian dance and Central Asian dance which extBold twere imported The name Kathak is derived from the Sanskrit word katha meaning story, and katthaka in Sanskrit means he who tells a story, or to do with stories. The name of the form is properly कत्थक katthak, with the geminated dental to show a derived form, but this has since simplified to modern-day कथक kathak. kathaa kahe so kathak is a saying many teachers pass on to their pupils, which is generally translated, she/he who tells a story, is a kathak', but which can also be translated, 'that which tells a story, that is 'Kathak'.

There are three major schools or gharana of Kathak from which performers today generally draw their lineage: the gharanas of Jaipur,Lucknow and Varanasi (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.by the royal courts of the Mughal era.

HISTORY OF KATHAK:

The story of Kathak begins in ancient times with the performances of professional story-tellers called kathakas who recited or sang stories from epics and mythology with some elements of dance. The traditions of the kathakas were hereditary, and dances passed from generation to generation. There are literary references from the 3rd and 4th centuries BCE which refer to these kathakas. The two texts are in the archives of Kameshwar library at Mithila.

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. Different dancers have worked on the form in different ways. 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) has 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. The late Rohini Bhate greatly enriched Kathak's rhythmic repertoire by creating a large corpus of dance compositions, while Durga Lal of the Jaipur gharana was famed for his speed and easy style of performance.

Gharanas

Because of the linear nature of the passing of knowledge from guru to shishya, certain stylistic and technical features began to fossilise and became hallmarks of a particular school, guru or group of teachers. The different styles are known as gharanas, and these are:

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 19th century. It was in this period that the Lucknow Gharana of Kathak attained maturity, through the efforts of Thakur Prasad Maharaj, the court dancer and guru of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah and subsequently by his nephews Bindadin Maharaj and Kalka Prasad Maharaj. Kalka Prasad'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. Abhinaya, concern for movement shape and creative improvisions are the hallmarks of this style. Presently, Birju Maharaj is considered the chief representative of this gharana.

Jaipur Gharana

The Jaipur Gharana developed in the courts of the Kachchwaha kings of Jaipur in Rajasthan. Importance is placed on the more technical aspects of dance, such as complex and powerful footwork, multiple spins, and complicated compositions in different talas. There is also a greater incorporation of compositions from the pakhawaj, such as parans. The Jaipur gharana has many more branches and off-shoots than the Lucknow style and requires a detailed tree diagram to show these. However, in the last century, the work of the Jaipur gharana dancers Jai Lal, Sunder Prasad and Narayan Prasad, Kundanlal Gangani and Sunderlal Gangani and Durga Lal was instrumental in developing the gharana. Presently the prominent artist of this gharana is sangeet natak academy awardee Rajendra Gangani son of Kundanlal Gangani, sangeet natak academy awardee Gitanjali Lal wife of Renowned kathak dancer Devi Lal, Prerana shrimali & celebrity kathak dancer Pratishtha Sharma desciple of Rajendra Gangani.

Benares Gharana

The Benares Gharana was developed by Janakiprasad. It is characterized by the exclusive use of the natwari or dance bols, which are different from the tabla and the pakhawajbols. There are differences in the thaat and tatkaar, and chakkars are kept at a minimum but are often taken from both the right and the left-hand sides with equal confidence. There is also a greater use of the floor, for example, in the taking of sam.

Raigarh Gharana

This was established by the Maharaja Chakradhar Singh in the princely state of Raigarh in present Chhattisgarh in the early 20th century. The Maharaja invited many luminaries of Kathak (as well as famous percussionists) to his court, including Kalka Prasad and his sons, and Pandit Jailal from Jaipur gharana. The confluence of different styles and artists created a unique environment for the development of new Kathak and tabla compositions drawn from various backgrounds. Some of renowned dancers of this gharana are Late Pt. Kartik Ram, Late Pt. Phirtu Maharaj, Late Pt. Kalyaandas Mahant, Late Pt. Barmanlak, Pt. Ramlal, Dr. Rakhi Dubey, Yasmin Singh, V. Anuradha Singh, Alpana Vajpeyi, Suchitra Harmalkar, Monica Pandey Bohre, Mohini Moghe, Bhagwaandas Manik, Bhupendra Bareth, Vaasanti Vaishnav, Annapurna Sharma, etc.

Ghunghru:

Ghughru or ghunghroo are the small bells the dancer ties around his or her ankles. The Kathak bells are different from those of other Indian dance styles, as they are not affixed to a pad or strip of leather, but rather are individually woven along a thick string. The usual number of bells is 100 on each ankle, although for the initial stages of learning or for children, 25 and 50 belled strings are widely available to allow the dancer to get used to them.

There is a more or less accepted upper ceiling of 150 bells on each ankle. Greater figures than this tend to involve the topmost circle of bells being tied further and further up a dancer's calf. This is generally regarded as unsuitable, because it is at some distance from the point of impact, giving rise to the upper levels of bells being prone to delayed sounding given the intervening space and amount of leg. Greater numbers are also unnecessarily difficult to control since they are more likely to sound at unwanted moments, being affected by the movement of the whole of the lower leg, rather than just the ankle.