Kathak Repertoire

The Ganesa Vandana and the Kavita are two types of poetic compositions to which the dancer performs both nritta and elementary abhinaya. The principle on which this particular type composition works is the matrika or the varnika chhanda or poetry. The discussion of the nritta portions of Kathak would not be complete without mentioning the parhant and the tattakara.

The Kathak dancer invariably recites the bols of the dance cadences. Bols has been considered an essential part of the Kathak dancer's demonstration. The recitation or the parhant becomes important on account of the great emphasis laid on the accented and unaccented parts of the mnemonics. It is important also because the dancer, through recitations, almost rehearses the exact time intervals in the dance before actually executing them through her feet. The mnemonics of the tabla or the pakhavaj player may will repeat all the bols which had been earlier recited by the dancer.

The tattakara is another way of presenting the dancer's great mastery over rhythmic patterns. The dancer can on a given metrical cycle, execute fractional, intervals of the beats of a single cycle. This is done by a cross time scanning or by  accelerating or slowing this scanning  by fractional count. Thus, against a basic pattern of 16 beats, the dancer may execute a pattern of 12 beats  by slowing  the fractional count or a pattern of 24 beats by increasing the count or making it double to 32 or trible  to 48. Normally, the dancer is taught to improvise on a 16 beat pattern  in such a manner that all the other talas can be  set to the basic 16 beat pattern. The dexterity and the precision of the dancer lies in her absolute synchronization with the sama of the original metrical  pattern. The end of the tattakara  portion of the demonstration  is a challenge also from the point  of view of perfect manipulation of weight. In the very process of executing these rhythmic patterns, the dancer tries to control  the sound of  the ankle bells  and restrict the sound to the jingling  of one or two bells on her ankles or the jingling of the entire hundred to two  hundred bells. This is indeed a challenging  part of the dancer's  training, because while executing these patterns and maintaining the right axis of the body and giving various emphasis on the round of the bells, the dancer must be absolutely static from the torso upwards. This is a difficult discipline for the dancer, because the feet, when tired have a tendency of seeking relief through a free use of the pelvic region. The charm of the dancer is in the seemingly static figure producing dynamic sounds.

Traditionally, the accompanying instruments were the pakhavaj (drum), small cymbals (manjira) and the flute but they were replaced with the tabla, harmonium and sarangi. The costumes of the dancers also underwent a change, and ghaghara (long skirt ), choli (blouse) and a veil gave way to churidar pyjama and angarkha. Besides  many ornaments in gold and silver for head, neck, arms, hands fingers, waist and feet, the small ankle bells are an essential part of adornment..These sweet sounding and tinkling bells not only accentuate the movement of the dancing foot but also help in dancing many complex patterns and designs which are hall marks of Kathak

Kathak is based on Bhava (mood ), raga (melody) and Tal (rhythmic beat). Its composition is based on North Indian classical music which include Dhrupad, Hori, Dhamar, Pad and Bhajan on the one hand and thumari Ghazal and Dadra on the other hand .The first category  reflects the religious and devotional sentiment while the second one a clear-cut erotic taste and tang. The singing is done by the dancer himself which by implication means that a dancer should be an adept both in dancing and singing. He is to be an expert in Abhinaya (acting )

Some times  Kathak item may be without a chant or singing. Then it is known as Gat Bhava under which the dancer takes a Radha -Krishna  episode and interprets it simply through mine only. The dancer plays various roles. His change of character from one to the other is marked by a pirouette from one side to the other. True to life, a Kathak recital includes sculpturesque postures, pirouettes  singing by the dancer abhinaya (mine) a lot  of innovation and both the sacred and the  secular flavour.

Kathak makes a great use of a number of Hindustani musical compositions. These have been entirely composed for the purpose of dance. Tarana  a pure musical item is used for Nritta. The Dhamar, Bhajan Thumri, Tappa, Dadra Kavitha etc are the Hindustani musical compositions which provide a vast scope for the presentation of sancharibhava on the part of the Kathak-dancer. The Dhamar and Hori composition  are related to Radha-Krishna legend and Rasa Lila with the gopis, the cow girls of the Braja -mandala. The Bhajan  and the Pada are strictly devotional composition set to ragas. The Thumari is a short musical composition of four  five lines. The dancer repeats each lines to bring out its varied meanings and richness of interpretation. As a lyric, thumri consists only of one sthayi and one antra. The Dadra and the Ghazal are love lyrics and are danced at relaxed pace and smooth tempo.

Kathak's unique layakari, intricate footwork, dizzying pirouettes, the brilliant adayagi of parana combined with scintillating rhythmic syllables and instrumental  music make it a thing of  transcendental  experience, aesthetic perfection and great inner beauty. It is one of the classical  Indian dance -forms  destined to live for ever with its various characteristic highlights getting richer and still richer with  the passage of time and further deep studies done in its creative and aesthetic aspects.