Kathak
An Indian Dance form
The word Kathak has its root in Katha or story. a band of story tellers who were attached to temples in North India, narrated stories from epics. Later, they added mime and gesture to their recitation. The next stage in its evolution came in the 15th and 16th centuries AD with the popularisation of thr Radha-Krishna legend. With thr advent of the Muslim rule, it was taken out from temples to the courts. Jaipur, Lucknow and Benaras became the centres. While Jaipur gave predominance to pure dance with emphasis on rhythm, the Lucknow one drifted into erotics.
Benaras also stuck to pure dance but it provided for the sensuous aspect by delineating episodes from the Radha-Krishna legend. The parton king of the Lucknow style was Wajid Ali Shah who spent extravagantly on art. The place of women in kathak was of a different order . They were known as nachwalis who adorned the courts of the Mughals.
Apart from this, they were used for entertaintment of the pleasure seeking rulers and their fawning toadies. Evantually they came to be categorised as women of easy virtue. The Kathak dance goes through a regular format mostly concentrating on rhythm, variously called Tatkar, Paltas, Thoras, Amad and Pranas. Binda Din Maharaj, Kalkadin, Aachan Maharaj, Gopi Krishna and Birju Maharaj are but a few maestros in this line.
Labels: Indian Dance form, Kathak
