Kathak: The divine combination of dance and storytelling.

There are different ways to tell a story. Oral recitation being the most obvious method. Then, there are the written forms: plays and ballads. And then, there is a classical dance form- Kathak, from North India.

The root of Kathak is the Sanskrit word Katha which means story. Kathak is described in Sage Bharata's Natyashastra, the oldest treatise on Indian Dance, Drama and Music, sometimes called the fifth Veda. Kathak is the parent of all traditional story-telling dance forms.

In our country, the land of the Puranas, stories are source of entertainment, knowledge, morality and spirituality. A story- teller is a prophet. Dance is an expression, an ability given by the gods. Therefore, Kathak, as an art form, which is the

combination of dance and storytelling, is the ultimate symbol devotion to the divine.

Kathak is somewhat introverted compared to other classical dance forms in the sense that, the attire of the performer is mild and the lower body of the dancer remains.

predominantly rigid. This is in contrast to classical dance forms like Kathakali, in which the performer is heavily decorated with clothes, jewelry and paint, or Bharatanatyam in which the dancer's primary pose is it bent knees.

Although historically Kathak is a vedic dance form, the invasion of Mughals allowed Persian culture to be influenced by it too. Medieval India bore witness to a surge in Kathak with the Bhakti and Sufi movements. Both Hindus and

Muslims danced to tell stories of the divine. The colonial Era

however, was unfortunate for Kathak. The British did not

appreciate the art form and it slowly lost its momentum. But, post-independence, there was a revival of classical art forms across India and Kathak began its journey towards regaining its lost glory.

Contemporary Kathak in India has three major schools called gharanas - Lucknow, Jaipur and Varanasi. The Jaipur gharana is said to have a strong spiritual flavour with the

performances based on the principles of Vaishnavism and Shaivism.

The Lucknow gharana is entertainment-oriented as it was earlier patronized in the court of Nawab of Awadh. It portrays stories of Radha-Krishna, Shiva-Parvati and other Sanskrit plays.

The Varanasi gharana which is regarded to be the oldest is said to retain the purest principles of Kathak as discussed in the Natyashastra.

A present day Kathak performance involves three steps, the invocation or Vandana, in which the performers offer their respect to their teachers and to the gods. This is followed by Nritta or pure dance which is a presentation of abstract beauty as a dance. Finally, there is an expressive dance on Nritya that's forms the substance of the performance, communicating the story to the audience.

For an artist, performance is work, Dharma. Thus, every movement is an invocation and every expression is a prayer. This devotion has kept the art of Kathak alive. As the

inhabitants of Vedabhoomi, we too should do whatever we

can to uphold the legacy of Natyashastra.

-Arya Shedbal