Transcending Gender in the Performance of Kathak

Abstract

Kathak, a classical dance form of Northern India, portrays an iconographic representation of the cultural constructs of the Hindu world view, most particularly, the ideology of gender roles within the culture. Essentially a dance form that emerged from within the Hindu religious beliefs and practices, Kathak was significantly influenced by the bhakti movement popularized in the early medieval period on the one hand, and on the other, by its incorporation in the Moghal courts after the fifteenth century. However, I limit my arguments to the Hindu concept of gender and its portrayal in the performance of Kathak. This paper focuses on the fluidity of gender performance in light of the indigenous philosophical concepts of “oneness” or non-dualism exemplified in Kathak abhinaya (1). This study is inspired by my observation and participatory experience as a dancer-performer of this form.