A North Indian Classical Dance Form: Lucknow Kathak

Abstract

Readers are conducted through the 12 sections of a typical Kathak performance that starts with vandana (or slōkam)—a prayer in Sanskrit addressing a god or goddess—and ends with tatkar, which denotes a slapping foot section that consists of bell-and footwork alone. Here, drummer and dancer interact so that “the dancer becomes as though bodiless and made of pure sound.” Brilliant though the tatkar may be, however, the predominant theme of North Indian Kathak dancing (from a Sanskrit word kathaka, meaning “narrator”) lies in the fleeting appearances and longer stories of Radha (a Gopi, or milkmaid) and Krishna (an incarnation of the god Vishnu).We discover that Kathak today is a theater art, but it still draws its inspiration from the literature of Vaishnavism, from the (ancient stories of the gods) and the devotional love poetry of medieval India. The sacred and human loves of Krishna and his beloved disciple, Radha, are woven into all aspects of the Kathak dance, as is clearly pointed out during discussions of the music, costumes and finally the role of the Kathak dancer, who is a creative artist having unusual improvisational abilities. The eyes seem to remember the eternal beauty of Radha and Krishna, so that both dancer and audience may be transported to a plane where they all can taste the rāsa of Lucknow Kathak.