Day 1
Kathak
Theme : DANCE FORMS AND BOLLYWOOD
Dance is an integral part of music. With dance comes
laya(rhythm) and sur where the song is just not composed but is enacted with
rhythmic thirkan. In this series I will talk about different dance forms,
selecting one every week. I will start with a popular Indian traditional dance
form but will not be limited to this style.
Today I will start with my love of more than 30 years:
Kathak
The word kathak is derived from Sanskrit word katha,
meaning story. The ancient kathakas, or storytellers, were traveling bards who were the first to employ this dance in
order to better communicate their tales to the masses. Most of the stories
revolve around Krishna and his leelas but is not limited to only Him. Lord
Shankar’s Tandav and Parvati’s Lasya equally qualify as Kathak subforms. Though
there is Mughlai style as it made its way from the Mughal courts.
Kathak is characterized by intricate footwork
(tatkars) and numerous 'chakkars' or spins which, combined with hand positions
(mudras), steps, expression, and mime, are used to tell the story. Sometimes a
kalakar even accomplishes 81 chakkars in a single go... Uff!!
Kathak is also performed in various styles or
Gharanas, such as the Lucknow Gharana, Jaipur Gharana, Rajgarh Gharana and the
Banaras Gharana.
The main instruments are tabla pakahawaj , sarangi
, a flute, and sometimes a violin and a sitar.
There are two types of attire: Women wear a flared
knee-length dress over churidar (tight-fitting trousers) with a dupatta (long
scarf) draping the head and shoulders. This was influenced from the Mughlai
Kathak(Yes you are right there…Inn aankhon ke masti ke mastane hazaro wala
Rekha ka costume)…. Also Radha’s costume (Gaghra-choli) is equally famous. Men
wear a Persian costume of wide shirts and round caps.
The four basic elements that must be mastered in
Kathak dance are tayari (technique with precision), layakari (mastery of
rhythm), khubsurti (beauty) and adbhuta (surprise and wonder). Traditional
storylines, themes, and emotions being expressed revolve around the following
rasas: shringar , karuna , vira, raudra, vibhatsa, hasya , bhayanaka .
This week I will present some popular songs which
are similar or close to Kathak.
Madhuri Dixit is an accomplished Kathak Dancer and
runs her own Kathak classes. Here is her very popular Kathak performance from
movie Dil to Pagal hai, choreographed by Shiamak Davar, who won 1998’s best
choreography awards in National, Filmfare and Zee Cine awards. Have a look at
her footwork and chakkars, though this is a small piece of dance and not a full
length song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9FqG3c_sIE
This one is from Devdaas. Though other songs were under Farah Khan’s name and she also won that year many awards, this particular dance is done by Pt. Birju Maharaj. Observe the initial tukda of this song, performed by various junior artists and their dha dhinda katt….Pure classical form of Kathak consists of Paran, Tukda, Gat Nikas, Jugalbandi, Sawal-Jawab (footwork with tabla or pakhawaj) and demonstration of different beat. You can find many tukdas and parans in this song.Also observe Radha costume of Madhuri
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYGgAHo186s
This is from Jhanak Jhanak
Payal Baje. (Santoor was used first time from this movie).What a wonderful
performance by Gopiji and Sandhya!! I guess in those days there was no separate
award for choreography. If I could go back in time and choose choreographer,
you can guess who it could be...
Nritya consists of two parts : Nritta (Physical dance)
and Abhinaya (acting). This song comes under second category. Less of parans
and tukda s but more of abhinaya….Again Radha and Krishna symbolizing love
between two different genders…and offcourse shringar ras..and obviously in
Radha costume..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIiB733yAyc
As I discussed earlier, there are two subforms of Kathak – Tandav and Lasya. Most of the songs qualify under Lasya. Lets see two songs from Tandav style. Tandav is considred to be a dance when you are angry. But this is myth. There can be Raudra ras as well as Veer ras mostly associated with Tandav.Here is Tandav from Gopi Krishnaji in very much happy mood(Hasya Ras) from two remakes of same movie “Bhookailasa”. Sorry friends could not find the hindi version of this but is language at all required?
Also enjoy Sridevi's Tandav from Chandani in Shringar ras....U may find other anger-based Tandav in many other films which I am not sharing (Like Sridevi in Chaalbaaz)..
Rekha
, the Mujra queen is also trained Kathak dancer.Rekha got 1998 U.P. award for
the best kathak dancer in Hindi films. Here is her famous Kathak performance
from Khoobsurat, though again this does not come under 100% classical category.
I will cover her mujras in separate category.
A nice
piece of Kathak sawal-jawab can be found at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riYkueNAN8k