Team 10

Kathak is a performance art that has survived and thrived as an oral tradition, innovated and taught and from one generation to another verbally and through practice. Kathak is a combination of three arts; music, dance and drama (Navatman, n.d.).  Kathak is a dance that originated in North India and within Hindu temples as a storytelling device for portraying the epic tales from Hindu scriptures, Mahabharata and Ramayana. As well as, performing various dance-dramas such as Akhyana, Pandvani, Harikatha, Kalakshepams, and Wari-Liba, from different parts of India (Farah. Y. S, 2014). Poetry was also combined with rhythmic movement to aid in the worshipful storytelling. The dance developed as a solo dance act where dancers took on the roles of both female and male characters, femininity and masculinity were seen as fluid notions. (Britannica, n.d.)

However, in the 16th and 17th centuries it transitioned, adapted and integrated to the tastes of the Mughal Courtsand was further impacted by Persian and central europe influences. It developed as a court dance where it features women and to a lesser extent men dancing to the rhythm of feet slapping on the ground, known for its twirling movements (Jeffry. H, 2008). This shows that it developed into a strong dance tradition that incorporates elements and form giving it the status of a court entertainment. With so many changes Kathak soon emerged as a source of entertainment rather than a medium of worship and despite its decline in the 19th century, there was a sharp increase of various Kathak schools in the country (Indobase, n.d.). The Lucknow, Jaipur, Raigarh, Benaras Gaharans became popular, each of them representing a distinctive style of Kathak. The Lucknow tradition of Kathak dance attributes the style to a Bhakti movement devotee named Ishwari from the Handia village in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, who credited Hindu God Krishna appearing in his dream and asking him to develop "dance as a form of worship". Then as India gained independence and sought to rediscover its ancient roots and a sense of national identity through the arts, Kathak was no more seen as a mere source of entertainment, but became an important part of Indian culture (CulturalIndia, n.d.).