KATHAK

In any discussion ofKathak as a major dance-form, several questions arise, since the style evolved gradually duringthe course ofseveral centuries, imbibing diverse influences. There are some primary questions concerning this art form; what is its chronological place in relation to other styles; does it share the Hindu myth and legend of the other dance forms; did it originate in the Moghul Coruts. The answersto these questions are found onlyon close examination ofthe historical, literary and other available evidence. For this purpose, itwould not be necessary to go into the history ofthe dance in north India prior to the tenth or eleventh century. Until then, there was a common art tradition in the country. In fact, temples continued to be built in Bundelkhand, Rajasthan and Gujarat till about the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries A. D. Dance had till then continued to flourish in the precincts ofthe temples. The dance style prevalent in north India was akin to the Bharatanatyam or Orissi—at least the sculptural evidence points towards this conclusion. However, with the rise of the Moghul Empire and with the establishment of a state religion which did not believe in dance as a form ofworship, some shift in emphasis naturally took place. As a result, in sculpture or at least in temple sculpture, dancing figures disappeared totally. Nonetheless, thewave oftheBhakti movement, which had sweptthe country during these centuries, influenced dance and music forms in north India as much as in south India. The compositions of MiraBai, Surdas and other Saint-poets are repletewith referencesto the devotees dancing before their God. An examination of the Braj poetry of the Ritikala literahue inHindi and theRajasthani dialectgive ampleproofthatdance continued to be used as an “image” or conventional “motif’ in poetry. Indian sculpture in the post-fifteenth century, understandably, does not provide any significant evidence about the dance in the dance images (nrittci murtis). The absence ofthe motifofthe dance is, however, amply compensated/matched by a prolific evidence ofdance and dance-drama in mural and miniature painting in all parts of India.

For reconstructing the history of Kathak, three styles of  miniature paintings provide valuable evidence. First and foremost are dance illustrations in the Jaina paintings and manuscripts, specially the Kalpa Sutra and the Samghrani Sutra. In the famous Deva Sampada Kalpa Sutra circa 1475 to 1500 and the Jamnagar Kalpa Sutra dated 1501 A.D., there are innumerable marginal figures which vividly portray many types of dances. While some of these figures point towards a style which has affinities with Orissi, there are others which indicate the emergence of a style which we may recognise as Kathak. In the sixteenth century A.D. also appears another style of painting, today commonly labelled as the Charu Panchashikha style. In the miniatures based on the ballad and plays such as Madhu Malati, Mrigavati and the Laur Chanda, there are many interesting scenes where dance is presented in the context ofpalace scene, a courtyard, and the rest This group of a painting ofthe Sultanate variety is most important because it is this group of painting which enables us to understand a gradual transition of the dance from the milieu of the temple to the court . The second group of paintings are those which were commissioned in the Mughal courts, principally the Akbamama. Tarrikh-e-Khandan-e-Timuria, etc. In these, small or large-sized miniatures are the visual accounts of the daily and annual events in the palaces. Naturally, there was rejoicing and festivity on the occasion ofthe birth of a prince. Music, dance was normal. Now, for the first time, in these paintings, we see musicians playing on drums called the Nakaras or a number of trumpets (Tuti). Also there are men dancers in contrast to the many women dancers in the Jain schools. In the paintings of the Akbamama and the Tarrikh-e-Khandan-e-Timuria, alongwith the paintings of a slightly earlier period, namely the Tutinama, two distinct schools of dance are in evidence.

One seems to draw its inspiration from Iran or at least from the paintings relating to the dance in Persian miniatures. These are men and women in long flowing robes, high conical caps in standing positions wiiich are diminished and their movements are remniscent of then Iranian counterparts. Along side are miniatures ofdancers who quite obviously represent an indigenous school of dancing which must have been prevalent in the countryside and in native courts. Quite often in a single painting, there are two different groups of dancers. We must also remember that one of Akbar’s Generals had seized Mandu by defeating Baaz Bahadur and Roop Mati. Records tell us that as part ofthe loot wrere 350 dancers who were brought to Akbar’s court. Undoubtedly some ofthese must have represented ancient traditions. In course oftune, they wrere rehabilitated and perhaps it was this amalgam of the Persian and the Indian brought together in a comb milieu wdiich wras responsible for the nascent beginning of a style of dance we recognise as Kathak. Concurrent in the sixteenth and seventeenth century to the beginning of the eighteenth century, the many combs and principalities of Indian princes and the dance drama traditions wnre inspired by the Bhakti movement and devoted to the cult of Rama and Krishna, hi Uttar Pradesh was bom Tulsidas vbio wrote the Ramacharitmanas, a work which wTas probably dramatised since it was wnitten. 86 INDIAN CLASSICAL DANCE In Vrindavan met the countless Bhciktcis and Vaishnavites from all parts of India who recreated the life ofKrishna through tableaux called Jhankis, dance dramas called Lilas and dances called Rasa. Ramcharitamanaswasthe inspiration ofthe Ramlilas, the Bhagavata Purana and the Gita Govinda were the inspiration of the Krishnalilas. The Hindu princes and nobles, whether from Rajasthan or the Hills of Himachal or the Plateaus of Deccan, were devoted to these deities.

Painters in their atelier drew inspiration from the Ramalila and Krishnalila, and the rich body ofmedieval poetry especially that ofSurdas, Mira Bai, Iveshav Das, and others. Into this was also brought all the elements of an earlier aesthetic namely that of the naika and the nayika, the seasons, the ragamala and the baramasa, generally called Rajast han Pahari painting. This third group provides the richest source material for reconstructing a history ofthe dance stylistically called Kathak today. As a result ofthe interaction ofthe Mughal courts and the Rajasthan courts the temples and the palaces of the princes, and the bhaktas, a new form came into being and this new form had connection with the temple and temple courtyard on the one hand and the palace and tlie princes on the other. In term oftechnique, some interesting changes took place. While in the Jaina paintings, the ardhamandali and the urdhvajanu chan and the svastika chan continue, in the paintings of the Mughal style, we find gradual absence of the ardhamandali. Instead, it is a standing erect position. We return, however, to this ardhamandali in the illustrations ofthe Dasma skandha oftheBhagavata PuranawhereKrishna dances with the gopis. We have also illustrations of Krishna dancing and playing on flute to the accompaniment of the ektara and mridanga. In most of these paintings, Krishna continuesto have the ardhamandli position ofthe lower limbs and, even ifthe hastas are sometimes clumsily depicted the hamsasya is fairly clear. Occasionally, Krishna is seen with one leg eract and a flat scima padci foot and the other lifted in urdhvajanu. The musical accompaniment is of several lands, but the percussion instrument is common to all ofthem. The accompanists are invariablywomen, one holding the mridanga, the second a bigjhanja and the third holding the kartala or cymbals. Krishna himselfholds a vina or ektara. In an interestingpainting hornBasolili,we find Krishnaunder a tree in vidyudbhranta chari. In these paintings, Krishna is shown dancing, surrounded by the gopis in a variety ofposes, and wearing a dhoti and a half-sleeved upper garment Besides these, there are thousands of paintings depicting just secular dancing, or the female dancer in either a cotuT or in a garden, sometimes accompanied by musicians.

A stock motif is a dance oftwo women holding hands and each is in a very modified urdhvajanu chari. . By about the sixteenth century, the tight churidarpyjama appears as a standard dress ofthe dancer. Even ifshewears a full-skirted lehanga, the chuddarpyjama below is cleary visible. From the half-skirt of Krishna, we move on to the full skirt of the women; the skirt always giving the suggestion ofbeing transparent The anklets or the nupur, which are not seen in sculpture till a very late date. KATHAK 87 become a common feature ofthe paintings ofthis period. Prior to the seventeenth century, the women danced to the accompaniment of the mridanga and the manjira. They sometimes hold pots on their head and hands and, occasionally, dance on plates under their feet . After the seventeenth century, or from the eighteenth century onwards, we find a consistent depiction of the tablet, the two-barrelled drum. The two-barrelled drum is also held by women performers in a standing posture and only in the music scenes do we find that the tabla is played by women who are seated. Gradually, there is less and less adherence to the ardhamandali position and the dancer begins to have a straight and erect posture. We find that, instead of the demi plie or the out-turned knee position so characteristic ofthe dancesculpture until the fourteenth century and also a significant feature of the miniattue paintings of the early medieval period, the dancer has an erect posture. . A great many paintings of the period are illustrations of the ragas, and the raginis on the one hand and the nayikas on the other. Amongst the raginis depicted in the form of dance-postrues are the nat narayani ragirti, vasanta ragini and dipaka ragini. In the nat narayani ragini it is usually only the female dancer who is presented, hi the vasanta ragini, Krishna is depicted in his lull splendour during spring with women and peacocks. The dancer is also seen sometimes amongst these playing Holi to the accompaniment ofa fewpercussion instruments. There are many other figures seen spraying coloured water fiom spray guns. . Although there are some accounts ofthe nature ofdances hi the chronicles oftire Mughal courts, the most valuable is foruid in the Aayin-e-Akbari. There is, of course, a far larger body ofmaterial available on the development ofmusic.

From Amir Kliusro onwards, many new developments took place in Indian music. In coruse oftime, Dhrupad and Khayal emerge as the two principal modes. This, however, cannot be compared to musical compositions discussed in the context of Bharatanatyam. In the case of the latter, many musical compositions were created specifically for the dance. In the case of Dhrupad and Khayal, no such assertion can be made. Perhaps this also accounts for an absence of evidence in regard to dancers accompanying Khayal singers. One ofthe reasons for this was perhaps the great elaboration needed on the basic melodic line in north Indian music. The dancer could not be provided with the same type of opportunity for improvisation which the varnam as a musical composition provided to the Bharatanatyam dancer. The relationship was thus of a general nature. The dexterity and the intricacy of weaving new patterns on a given ascending and descending order of the svaras was replaced in dance by a most imposing and intricate execution ofrhythmic patterns bythe feetbased on a metrical cycle. The svarabol or the tan bol ofthe Khayalwas met by the mathematical permutations and combinations of the tukra and the paran in dancing. The poetic compositions (scihitya) naturally, came to have a secondary position in this scheme. Nevertheless there was an important aspect of Indian music where it came close to dance. This was the thumri in north Indian music. The thumri, the bhajan and the ghazal of north Indian music were the counterparts ofthe padams and thejavalis in Kamatak music and south Indian dance. In the thumri, the musician presented a particular state of emotion and elaborated it through variations on the same theme. In dance, the artist presented variations ofthe one line ofpoetry sung in a given raga and brought to it, through gesture, the same richness and varietywhich the musician was bringing to it through the musical note. The masters ofthe thumri and the bhajan became the masters of the abhinaya of north Indian dance and it is this sahitya which gave the dance style a literary content analogous to the repertoire of the other dance forms of India. In recreating the history ofKathak this background, however, disjointed it may seem, mustnotbe forgotten.

The classical distinctionsbetweenlasya and tandava. and between nritta and abhinaya were maintained by the Kathak exponent even when this dance was performed before kings and princes in the courts ofAvadh. Itmust also be remembered thatthis dance-style was not only influenced butwas actually given a direction by the Vaishnavaite tradition ofnorth India. The pure abstractdesignwhich this dancemakesthrough rhythmwas certainlyconditioned by the court milieu or the milieu in which technical virtuosity was at a premium. But even at those moments, the dancer did not keep away from the sahitya. In file very process ofmaking interpretative dancing an abstract design, the dancer never forgot that the abstract design was an invocation to God, which he or she might practise in solitude or collectively in a temple. In moving to the court, the Hindu musician or dancer ofthe temple made suitable adjustments in repertoire technique and manner of execution. In the court, the Kathak virtuoso gave up the literary content in preference to a demonstration of sheer technique. Somewhere, in the unsaid part ofthe performance, the Hindu myth and legend still remained and communicated itself in the interpretative portions ofthe dance. Kathak Technique Kathak, like miniature painting, is two-dimensional in character. It conceives of space only in straight lines and does not attempt to give a three-dimensional effect so characteristic ofthe reliefs in Indian sculpture. In the dance, there is only a front-back treatment of space. Even when pirouettes are executed, it is along a central vertical median from which no shifts or deflections take place. The human form is conceived of as a straight line and there are very few deviations from the vertical median or the Brahmasutra. The weight ofthe body in the initial stances ofthe dance is equally divided and the knees are not flexed.The feet, in this position, are invariably in the samapada; the first sequence are also executed in the sama pada position. In no other style is the flat-foot dance so important as in Kathak. One of the reasons for this is obviously the minute footwork which Kathak demands.

The complex footwork can be executed precisely only through a delicate balance of weight on the flat foot When the Kathak dancer moves in front, she does not place the anchitci foot forward (heel on the ground) as in Bharatanatyam or the Kunchita foot (toe on the ground) as in Manipuri. Instead, she places the flat foot forward lightly, carrying the weight of the body along rather than shifting the weight tersely. . The Kathak dancer’s alphabet and vocabulary of dance movements are not built on the principle of either foot contacts, or leg extensions, or knee flexions as in Bharatanatyam. Nor are the cadences built on the principle ofweaving patterns in circles, semicircles or figures of 8 of the entire body as in Manipuri The cadences are directly conditioned by the metrical cycles (talas) on which rhythmic variations can be executed. Thus, what is known as the tattakara in Kathak is the ability of* the dancer to execute a variety of rhythmic patterns (jatis) on a basic metrical cycle (tala). The Movements Torso movements are also known to this dance style, but the torso is neither conceived of as a single unit as in Bharatanatyam, nor is it divided into two units, the chest and the waist, as in Manipuri. Instead, only the shoulder line changes its angle which appears to be a manipulation of the upper torso. This treatment gives the dance style its peculiar fluidity and some ofits characteristic torso postures. The shoulder line and its deflection (with one shoulder depressed and the other raised) is used at its best in the execution of movement known as the Kasak masak. The movements of the arms are definite, but they do not make any single geometrical pattern. In the basic stance, the dancer holds a variation of the hamsasya hasta above the head; the second arm is extended sideways or in front and is slightly rounded. The hasta is hamsasya at the waist level. In this basic stance writh a svastika loot (crossing at the back), the mukuta of Krishna is represented by the right hand and the holding of Radha on his left side by the other. The same stance, when it wras performed in a different milieu, acquired a more secular character and came to be known as the entrance stance which, at its worst, becomes somewhat coquettish. There are many hastas known to this dance style, although the oral tradition does not accept the terminology for these hastas as is prevalent in the other classical styles of India. The mushti, the sikhaj'a, the hamsasya, th e chandrakala, and the alapadma are common. .

The characteristic feature ofthe dance style is itsjumps and pirouettes. These, in the Natyasastra or Abhinaya Darpana terminology, are the utplavanas and  bhramaris. In no other dance style are both feet lifted together in a simplejump as they are hi Kathak. In the other classical dance-forms, there is invariably a pattern in the air in which one foot is nearer the ground than the other. In the elevation, there is a feeling of covering space through a leap orjump. In Kathak, on the other hand, there is only a release from gravity, usually in place and there is no attempt on the part of the dancer to cover space forward or backward through the process of the jump. In such movement, the jump itself assrunes significance,ratherthanbeing ameans ofgettingto anewposture. Inthe bhramaris, we find that the Kathak dancer maintains the axis ofthe body by using one foot as a centre and the other foot to make a circle. The static foot represents the centre and the dynamic foot is the arm of a compass drawing swiftly the circumference of a circle. The pirouettes or the chakkara, as they are known in popular terminology, are usually the finale of a dance sequence. They are usually grouped together in a series ofthree, as in the aradclis ofBharatanatyam. . Face movements are limited, but great emphasis is placed on the movements of the eyebrows. The use ofthe eyebrows for the lasyanya is a characteristic feature of this dance style. In the movements of the neck, Kathak shares much with Bharatanatyam. The horizontal, side-to-side movement ofthe neck, described as the sundaii neck movement in the Abhinaya Darpana, is used most frequently in these two dance styles. . The Repertoire A discussion ofthe technique ofKathak camiot be divorced from a discussion of its repertoire. In fact, portions ofthe technique form the repertoire and it is only recently thatseparate dance compositions have been choreographed as numbers of the pure dance (nritta) or mime (abhinaya). Kathak. like the other dance styles, can be divided into two main parts, namely nritta and abhinaya on the one hand, and tandava and lasya on the other. While the definitions of nritta and abhinaya applicable to the other styles are also applicable to Kathak. it is not very easy to apply the classification oftandava and lasya to actual movements in this dance style.

Tandava and lasya are applied here to the type ofmnemonics which are played on the tabla or executed by the feet rather than through any types of distinctive tension or relaxed movement . Tire nritta portions are presented in a sequence beginning with the traditional entry, known as the amada. It is commonly believed that the amada was preceded by an invocation to god Ganesa. This was known as the Ganesa Vandana or the Ganesa parana, which perhaps went out ofvogue for some time and was replaced by what has been termed as the amada. The former has now returned into practice. Through the amada, the dancer makes his entry into the stage and the invocation to the Hindu god Ganesa was changed into the salami or the court salutation. The amcida is usually composed in the medium tempo a metrical cycle of 16 beats (trital). The mnemonics ofthe amada are set and usually restricted to the bols called ta tai tai tat ae tai, tai, tat. Tlie amada ends with a short pirouette movement. The dancer takes a static position again after this dramatic entry, to display movements of different parts of the body The thata is the Kathak dancer’s way of presenting the different movements ofthe angas and the upangas. Sometimes the thata precedes the amada. These entry munbers are soon followed by the presentation of pure dance patterns known as the tora, tukra and parana. These are successive rhythmic patterns, named so either according to the varying degree of the complexity of the rhythmic pattern or on accomit of the mnemonics used, that is, whether they are of the tabla or of the pakhavaj (drum). The tukra is perhaps the simplest variety where the mnemonics are of the tabla and it emphasises one particular type of pattern which is usually terse and uncomplicated by quarter beats or two-thirds beats. Sometimes, people have defined the toras analogous to the toras of the sitar where clusters of sound patterns are presented in a given raga structure. In either case, the distinguishing feature ofthe tora is its formalized pattern, taking only a few types of mnemonics into consideration. The tora is followed by the tukra, which is often presented as the chakkardar tukra. These tukras are built in the same manner as the tirmanams of the vaniam in Bharatanatyam.

The dancer begins with a rhythmic pattern seemingly slow and in vilambit laya.. This is followed by presenting some mnemonic in a different tempo and then presenting them finally in a double or a triple laya The analogy with the three kalas of Bharatanatyam is not exact, because here there is a successive progression and the relationship ofthe third laya to the first laya can vary greatly. The entire sequence is repeated usually three times or in multiples of three. The structure is thus built on an acute mathematical sense and the dexterity of the artiste lies in building up this structure either from the first beat ofthe rhythmic pattern or from any ofthe subsequent beats, the unalterable principle being, of course, that the dancer must end on the last beat of the metrical cycle or the first beat of the new cycle, but mostly the former. The parana is the next variety and it has been identified normally as dance pattern executed to the mnemonics ofthe pakhavaj. These are usuallymnemonics with aspirant sounds heavy and echoing, as opposed to the non-aspirant sounds like tat, trik, ti, etc. of the tukra. The sounds are dha, dhigi, dhilang, etc. The nritta teelmique of Kathak could also be covered under these broad categories. However, there are subdivisions and re-classification of the tukras, the toras and the paranas. One such re-classification is the composition which comprises sounds of various percussion instruments known to north Indian music, such as, the nagara, pakhavaj, jhang, manjira, duff and tabla It has also 92 INDIAN CLASSICAL DANCE been defined as the category which has a combination of the tandava and the lasya mnemonics. Thus, in these compositions mnemonics such as nagi, thari, kita, thak, thun, jhanak jhancik, etc. are common. Similarly, there are tukras which are known as the sangeet ka tukras. These are compositions usually with mnemonics of one syllable or at best two syllables each, but with some musical quality about them. A common sangeet ka tukra from the Jaipur school is dring jagira drigjagira. The number has also been defined as in bol wiiich is sung It seems that the first definition would perhaps be more appropriate. As opposed to the sangeet ka tukra, there is another rhythmical composition known as the natvari orjust nach ka tukra. In natvari, the dancer attempts to present sounds ofthe anklets only.

The typical natvari bols are dhig, dha, dhig, dhig, tram, etc. It must be remembered that none of these compositions is danced to svara patterns as in a jatisvaram of Bharatanatyam. They are similar to the various korvais which a Bharatanatyam dancer executes to the recurrent singing of a pallavi or anupallavi in a tillana. The nritta portions of Kathak are presented to a repetitive melodic line known as the nagma. The recurrent line serves the same function as the tonic in a raga. Both the drummer and the dancer weave endless variety of rhythmic permutations and combinations on this fixed melodic line. Very fewr numbers are known to Kathak which aim at or achieve a svara to svara synchronization of dance movement and musical sound. The synchronization is all in the sphere of the metrical cycle. The tarana may be cited as a single exception. Here, the dancer does wreave patterns to the accompaniment of svaras of the tarana. . One type of composition in Kathak does not fall under the category either of pure nritta or of abhinaya, but may be called nritya. The Ganesa Vandana, about which we have spoken earlier, and the kavita are twro types of poetic compositionsto which the dancer performs both nritta and elementary abhinaya. The principle on w hich this particular type of composition wrork is the matrika or the vamika chhanda or poetry. The poetic metre guides the recitative form and is set to an appropriate tala. It is to the poetic forms so sung that the dance is performed at the sawaiya, the ghanakshari, etc. Very often, a purely mnemonic pattern is added to the end of this poetic piece. The dancer, thus, interprets through gestures the wTords of the poetic line and then executes a nritta cadence on the mnemonic portions. Occasionally, the last wrord of the poetic composition is repeated several tunes, again in multiples ofthree, so that the dancer often ends in a repetitive pirouette in the name of either Radha or Krishna. The discussion ofthe nritta portions of Kathak wrould not be complete without a mention of two other aspects, namely the parhant and the tattakara.

The Kathak dancer invariably recites the bols of the dance cadences. This is differentfrom what the Bharatanatyam dancer doeswhile executing a tirmanam. It is only the nattuvanar (dance conductor) who recites the bols in a Bharatanatyain recital, but in Kathak it has been considered an essential part of the Kathak dancer’s demonstration. The recitation or the parhant becomes important on account ofthe 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 cadence before actually executing them through her feet. It must also be remembered that the mnemonics ofthe tabla or the pakhavaj player may well repeat all the bols which had been earlier recited by the dancer. The second and last aspect, namely, 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 ofthe beats of a single cycle. This is done by a cross tune-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 treble to 48. Normally, the dancer is taught to improvise on a 16 beat pattern in such a maimer that all the other talas can be set to the basic 16 beat pattern. The dexterity and precision ofthe 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 viewr 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, can 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 ofthe dancer’s training, because wliile executing these patterns and maintaining the right axis ofthe body and giving varying emphasis on the sound ofthe bells, the dancer must be absolutely static from the torso upwards. This is a difficult discipline for the dancer, because the feet, wdien tired, have a tendency of seeking reliefthrough a free use ofthe pelvic: region. The charm ofthe dancer is in the seemingly static figure producing dynamic sounds. There arc many other classifications and types of compositions known to the nritta technique of Kathak but, they all belong to the oral traditions of the families. Abhinaya In Indian dance, the abhinaya is invariably known as the dancer’s ability to interpret words set to music. Such interpretation of a wrord through movement distinguishesthe classical tradition from folk forms. The degree ofinterpretative stylization through hastas and facial expressions (mukhaj abhinaya) gives each dance style its distinctive character. In Kathak, the abhinaya portions have evolved out ofmany dance traditions known to Central India. The rasadharis of  Mathura and Yrindavan. the dancers of Gujarat and dance kirtans ofBihar and of the Maithili region are tlie precursors of the literary content of the kathak dance. The lyric, closely associated with the Yaishnavite tradition, fonned the basis and whether it was Jayadeva’s astapadis or Yidyapati’s padavedis or the bhajans of Mira Bai and Strrdas, the approach was identical. To the accompaniment ofthe song, the dancer presents meaning through gesture. While it is not conclusively proven that Kathak as evolved in the courte ofWajid Ali Shah deliberately discarded this religious content, hi the practice until quite recently, tlic literary lyric had come to have secondary7 place. A collection ofthe sahitya (literature) of the dance-style from scattered source in Central India would perhaps bring to light a sizeable literature ofthe dance. In practice, the sahitya gave way to the abstract playing on the sarangi ofthe recurrent melodic line without the words. Kathak conceives ofabhinaya under two broad headings. The first is known the gatabhava or just bhava and the second as abhinaya proper. The gatabhava is executed without the help of words. The dancer makes another entry into the acting arena by what is known as the gatabhava and gatanikas.

After this entry, she presents very brief pieces based on