Rita Dance Academy

Kathak is a north Indian style of classical dance, characterized by rhythmic footwork, spectacular spins, and the dramatic representation of themes from Urdu poetry. Kathak arose from the fusion of Hindu and Muslim cultures that took place during the Mughal period. The word Kathak is derived from katha, meaning "the art of storytelling." It is also synonymous with the community of artists known as Kathakas whose hereditary profession it was to narrate history while entertaining.

From its early form as a devotional expression dedicated to the Hindu gods, Kathak gradually moved out of the temples and into the courts of the rulers; the Hindu maharajas and the Muslim nawabs. In the Hindu courts of Rajasthan, kathak developed in the Jaipur gharana (school), a regional style emphasizing the technical mastery of pure dance. To the east in the court of Wajid Ali Shah, the last nawab of Oudh and himself a student of Kathak, the dance emphasized dramatic and sensuous expression and developed into the style characteristic of the Lucknow gharana.

This gharana is said to have originated with Wajid Ali Shah's court dancer Thakur Prasadji. The lineage of Kathak dance can be traced from generation to generation, father to son, guru to disciple. Thakur Prasadji's nephews, Binda Din Maharaj and Kalka Prasad, excelled in the study of Kathak. Binda Din's three nephews, Achhan, Lacchu and Shambhu Maharaj, helped carry the Kathak tradition into the twentieth century. Achhan Maharaj, and upon his death, Shambhu Maharaj, had among his many disciples Ram Narayan Misra and Prohlad Das, respectively guru and father of Chitresh Das.

Today Kathak is the beautiful culmination of the Hindu and Muslim cultures, embodying dance characteristics from both. This dance style consists of three main aspects: drama, mood and sentiment and pure dance technique. Elements of Kathak include fast pirouettes, linear and circular extensions of the body, controlled hand and body movements and intricate, rhythmic footwork. These elements combined with a dancer’s spiritual state, make it one of the most mesmerizing dance forms in the world.