MADHUBALA

No words for this astonishingly beautiful and a superb actress. 

A Gem of Indian Cinema. Will be missed always. 

Few shots of Madhubala's Kathak dance from the Classic Movie MUGHAL-E-AZAM

Mohe Panghat pe Nandlal chhed gayo re....... 

and the song of rebellious love..........

Pyaar kiya to darna kya.....jab pyaar kiya to darna kya

The Dress and the Ghungroos

Ghunghru

Ghunghru or ghunghroo are the small bells the dancer ties around his or her ankles. The Kathak bells are different from those of other Indian dance styles, as they are not affixed to a pad or strip of leather, but rather are individually woven along a thick string. The usual number of bells is 100 on each ankle, although for the initial stages of learning or for children, 25 and 50 belled strings are widely available to allow the dancer to get used to them.

There is a more or less accepted upper ceiling of 150 bells on each ankle. Greater figures than this tend to involve the topmost circle of bells being tied further and further up a dancer's calf. This is generally regarded as unsuitable, because it is at some distance from the point of impact, giving rise to the upper levels of bells being prone to delayed sounding given the intervening space and amount of leg. Greater numbers are also unnecessarily difficult to control since they are more likely to sound at unwanted moments, being affected by the movement of the whole of the lower leg, rather than just the ankle.

A typical Kathak ghungroo set looks like this:

Costume

Kathak is a wonderful blend of Hindu and Muslim culture. The costumes are very gorgeous for both Hindu (Lahenga-Choli) and Muslim - (Churidar-Kameez-Vest) called Angrakha.

As the dance style itself has changed to reflect the different regions and cultures in which it found itself, so too has the costume and performance dress of the dancers.

PS: As a rule, the dancer should be tied from waist when performing Kathak.

Female costume



Traditional (and perhaps more specifically Hindu) costume sometimes consists of a sari, whether worn in an everyday style, or tied up to allow greater freedom of movement during dance. However, more commonly, the costume is a lehenga-choli combination, with an optional odhni or veil. The lehenga is loose ankle-length skirt, and the choli is a tight fitting blouse, usually short-sleeved. Both can be highly ornately embroidered or decorated. 


The lehenga is sometimes adapted to a special dance variety, similar to a long ghaghra, so that during spins, the skirt flares out dramatically. The ghaghra is a long, very full, gathered skirt with a broad gold or silver border. Narrow silver or gold bands radiate all the way from waist to hem. The choli, worn with the ghaagra, is usually of a contrasting color and has embroidered sleeve-bands.





Mughal costume for women consists of an angarkha (from the Sanskrit anga-rakshaka 'limb-keeper') on the upper body. The design is akin to a chudidaar kameez, but is somewhat tighter fitting above the waist, and the 'skirt' portion explicitly cut on the round to enhance the flare of the lower half during spins. The skirt may also be cut on the round but beginning just below the bust; this style is known as 'Anarkali' after the eponymous dancer who popularised it. 

Beneath the top, the legs are covered by the chudidaar or figure hugging trousers folded up giving the look of cloth bangles. Optional accessories are a small peaked cap and a bandi or small waistcoat to enhance the bust-line. A belt made of zari or precious stones is sometimes also worn on the waist.

Male costume

The traditional costume for men is to be bare-chested. Below the waist is the dhoti, usually tied in the Bengal style, that is with many pleats and a fan finish to one of the ends (although it is not unknown for dancers to tie the garment more simply). There is the option of wearing a men's bandi too.

The Mughal costume is kurta-churidar. The kurta can be a simple one, or again, adapted for dance to incorporate wider flare, but is usually at least knee-length. Men may also wear an angarkha (see costume, below). Particularly older variety costumes include the small peaked cap too.

Important Dance Elements

Fingers of hand as they are called in Hindi:

Thumb- Angushtha

Fore Finger - Tarjani

Middle Finger - Madhyamika

Ring Finger - Anamika

Little Finger - Kanishtha

Types of Circles:

These are the ways and type of circles that are made during dance: 

Static

Dynamic

Sitting circles

Navras: 

These are the Nine Sentiments (expression/acting) that are represented through the dance:

1. Shant - Quiet
2. Veer - Hero
3. Krodh - Anger
4. Adbhut - Surprise
5. Vibhastsya - Disgust
6. Karun - Pathos
7. Hasya - Comedy
8. Bhaye - Fear
9. Shringar - Beauty

Hand Gestures:

Asanjukta Hasta Mudra (Single Handed Gestures)
Sanjukta Hasta Mudra (Combined Handed Gestures)

Gat Nikas:

A composition describing the movement of a bird (e.g. peacock, swan), animal (e.g. elephant, lion), a human charactor or Hindu Gods and Goddesses and is usually performed with the beats of a percussion instrument accompanied by string instruments e.g. Sarengi, Sitar, Swarmandal etc. Gat Nikas, commonly called Gat Vab, is named as follows.

Parvati Gat - movement of Hindu Goddess Parvati (Goddess of strength)
Stri Gat - movement of a lady
Mayur Gat - movement of a peacock
Gajagamini Gat - movement of an elephant

There are many other Gats e.g. Ghunghat (veil), Holi (festival of colors), Lahenga (a Hindu dress or costume), Selami (a Muslim way of salutation to the audience) etc. There are variations in eye, neck, feet movements.

Nritya: Dance with Expressions and Feelings

Expressive Dance (Nritya)

The simple equation goes like this:

Nritta + Abhinaya = Nritya

Aside from the traditional expressive or abhinaya pieces performed to a bhajan, ghazal or thumri, Kathak also possesses a particular performance style of expressional pieces called bhaav bataanaa ('to show bhaav or 'feeling'). It is a mode where abhinaya dominates, and arose in the Mughal court. 

It is more suited to the mehfil or the darbaar environment, because of the proximity of the performer to the audience, who can more easily see the nuances of the dancer's facial expression. 

A thumri is sung, and once the mood is set, a line from the thumri is interpreted with facial abhinaya and hand movements while seated. This continues for an indefinite period, limited only by the dancer's interpretative abilities. 

PS: The text of thumri is romantic or devotional in nature, and usually revolves around a girl's love for Krishna. The lyrics are usually in Uttar Pradesh dialects of Hindi called Awadhi and Brij Bhasha. Thumri is characterized by its sensuality, and by a greater flexibility with the raga.

Bollywood Connections

The most famous Hindi Movies in which some amazing Kathak dance is performed are:


Pakizah - By Meena Kumari

Mughal e Azam - By Madhu Bala

Devdas - By Madhuri Dixit

Dil to Pagal Hai : By Madhuri Dixit

Nritta (Pure Dance)

Pure Dance (Nritta)

All compositions are performed so that the final step and beat of the composition lands on the 'sam' (pronounced as the English word 'sum' and meaning even or equal, archaically meaning nil) or first beat of the time-cycle.


Most compositions also have 'bols' (rhythmic words) which serve both as mnemonics to the composition and whose recitation also forms an integral part of the performance. This recitation is known as padhant. Some compositions are aurally very interesting when presented this way.


The bols can be borrowed from tabla (e.g. dha, ge, na, 'ti' 'na' 'ka' 'dhi na') or can be a dance variety (ta, thei, tat, ta ta, tigda, dig dig, tram theyi and so on).The structure of a conventional Kathak performance tends to follow a progression in tempo from slow to fast, ending with a dramatic climax.


A short dance composition is known as a tukra, a longer one as a toda. There are also compositions consisting solely of footwork. Often the performer will engage in rhythmic play with the time-cycle, for example splitting it into triplets or quintuplets which will be marked out on the footwork, so that it is in counterpoint to the rhythm on the percussion.


Often tukras are composed to highlight specific aspects of the dance, for example gait, or use of corners and diagonals, and so on. A popular tukra type is the chakkarwala tukra, showcasing the signature spins of Kathak. Because they are generally executed on the heel, these differ from ballet's pirouettes (which are properly executed on the toe or ball of the foot).


The spins usually manifest themselves at the end of the tukra, often in large numbers: five, nine, fifteen, or more, sequential spins are common. These tukras are popular with audiences because they are visually exciting and are executed at great speed.

First lesson of Kathak: TATKAAR (Tintal/Teentaal)

TATKAAR

So the first beat, the base foundation of Kathak is the TATKAAR. Yes, you got it right. Before you want to jump higher, Tatkaar is what one needs to be perfect at :)

So we will completely dedicate this lesson to Tatkaar.

Tatkaar is based on TEENTAAL or TINTAAL. Tintal has sixteen (16) beats in four equal divisions (vibhag). The period between every two beats is equal. The first beat out of 16 beats is called sam and the 9th beat is called khali ('empty'). To count the Teental, the audience claps on the first beat, claps on the 5th beat, then waves on the 9th beat and lastly again claps on the 13th beat; these three claps (Hindi tin 'three' + tāl 'clap') give the rhythm its name.

Theka: It has a characteristic pattern of bols (theka).

The Theka for Tintal

dha	dhin	dhin	dha	|	dha	dhin	dhin	dha	|
x					2
na	tin	tin	ta	|	ta	dhin	dhin	dha	|
o					3

This can also be shown using the following figure

Taal signs	X				2				0				3
Maatra	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
Bols	dha	dhin	dhin	dha	dha	dhin	dhin	dha	dha	tin	tin	ta	ta	dhin	dhin	dha

Note the bols used for the first beat of each division: Dhaa, a bol involving both hands, is played at the beginning of the first, second and final divisions; for the khali section, Naa – a right hand bol – is used to indicate that the division is open. There are some pedagogical variations as to the actual syllables pronounced when reciting the bol, most of which occur in the final two vibhags.

Here goes the Tatkaar beats...

Ta thei thei tat... Aa thei thei tat...Ta thei thei tat... Aa thei thei tat

As you can see these are 16 beats, lets see how the basic footwork goes for Tatkaar:

Bol - Feet

Ta   - Right
Thei - Left
Thei - Right

Tat  - Left

Aa   - Left

Thei - Right

Thei - Left

Tat   - Right

Ta   - Right
Thei - Left
Thei - Right

Tat  - Left

Aa   - Left

Thei - Right

Thei - Left

Tat   - Right

OK, now we know the beats but the speed in which we sing or dance to these beats are hugely important. 

Watch out the next lesson to know what are the measures of speed of Kathak music, and how we can manage the speed of our dance and using these ways. In Hindi, its called NAAPNE KA PAIMAANA.

Kathak: Origin and Gharanas

The origin of Kathak.........

So, the word Kathak has come out of the Hindi word "Katha" that means story. So it simply implies that Kathak is a way of story telling. As in Hindi we say, 'Katha kahe so Kathak'.

India has around 8 major classical traditional dances. Kathak is one of them. The other 7 being Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, Kathakali, Manipuri, Mohiniattam, Odissi, Sattriya.

Kathak traces its origins to the nomadic bards of ancient northern India, known as Kathakars or storytellers. Its form today contains traces of temple and ritual dances. From the 16th century onwards it absorbed certain features of Persian dance and central Asian dance which were imported by the royal courts of the Mughal era.

There are three major schools or Gharana of Kathak from which performers today generally draw their lineage:

- The gharanas of Jaipur
- The gharanas of Lucknow and
- The gharanas of Varanasi.

The basics of dance remain same in all gharanas, however certain ways of addressing the audience, songs and sometimes steps also may differ basis these gharanas.

Just as an example, the Lucknow gharana do an Aadaab or salaami (a Muslim style One hand salutation style) to address the audience whereas the Jaipur and Varanasi gharana may do a namaskaar (Salutation with joined hands).

PS: In All Gharanas, Music to Kathak is normally provided by tabla and sitar players

Starter

Hey Ya!

So there I Go writing a blog on my own.

Well, I'll post here about all that I like and as and when it crosses my mind. But because particularly I love dancing, I'll definitely post some techniques, lessons and videos of what I know.

Watch out for more !!

Stay Positive.. always

I found this quote very interesting. So shared this.