Kathak

Kathak is the classical dance of North India, built on rhythmic footwork, fast spins and storytelling through gesture and expression. Its name comes from the Sanskrit katha, story; tradition links it to reciters of epic tales, a descent historians dispute. It grew in present-day Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, drew themes from devotional Bhakti poetry about Krishna, and found patrons in Hindu and Muslim courts.

The dancer stands upright, knees straight, where Bharatanatyam uses a bent-knee half-seated stance. The feet strike patterns (tatkar) against a tala, a repeating rhythmic cycle, most often the 16-beat teental. Strings of a hundred or more brass bells (ghungroo) at the ankles sound each stroke. Spins (chakkar) close many sequences, and compositions resolve on sam, the cycle's first beat. The dancer often recites a composition's rhythm syllables (bols) before dancing it. Tabla answers the feet, and sarangi or harmonium repeats a melody that marks the cycle.

Teachers hand on Kathak through gharanas, hereditary schools of style. Most sources name three: Lucknow, for expressive acting (abhinaya) and sung poetry such as thumri; Jaipur, for vigorous footwork and rhythmic virtuosity; and Banaras (Varanasi), which its dancers trace to Janaki Prasad. Birju Maharaj (1938 to 2022), of the Lucknow gharana, carried Kathak from solo recital into group choreography.

Teaching passed by word of mouth from guru to disciple. Since the 1950s most students have started in group classes at institutions.