Kathak originated as a mimetic, recitative
art of story telling that evolved in the plains of Northern India. Kathakar-s were often invited at social and religious ceremonies to hold
story-telling concerts. The stories were mainly drawn from Vaishnava literature.
From 11th century A.D. onwards Northern
India was ruled by a series of Muslim dynasties who viewed dance and music
as a form of secular entertainment rather than a spiritual or religious
act. Kathak, being a prominent dance form, was introduced in
the royal courts. The court dancers were encouraged to explore sheer
beauty of movements and the joy and excitement of rhythm with minimum or
no reference to the Hindu mythical structure of Hindustani vocal and
instrumental music.
Mime and story-telling was not lost
altogether, thanks to a few tolerant rulers and contributed to the
emergence of highly subtle and specialised form of Abhinaya in the form of Thumri, Dadra, Ghazal etc.
The story-telling aspects gives the Kathak dancer certain privileges over other classical dance
forms. He has the liberty to communicate verbally to his audience. An
intelligent dancer often uses this informal mode of communication to draw
the audience closer into his magic world.
To Kathak Gestures
To Talas
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