Kathak: Indian Classical Dance
Anonymous. “Kathak Dance Festival”. India Currents 23.8 (2009): 46. Web.
This peer-reviewed article is about a group of Kathak dancers based in Los Angeles as well as India. It describes the experience of nine dancers, one of whom was featured in “Superstars of Dance”, “So You Think You Can Dance” and a principal dancer with Cirque du Soleil. The dancers worked with renowned Indian musicians for the performance. Although the author is anonymous, it is written for India Currents so it is reliable article. It supports my point of how Kathak dancers have to communicate with other cultures and with musicians.
Baird, Michelle. “Kathak’s Journey Through World Music”. India Currents 27.2 (2013): 89. Web
This article talks about the nine emotions portrayed in dance. This is significant to the Kathak dance form. The author used to be a Kathak dancer and is now a journalist, making her a reliable source. She supports my point of how dance itself is a genre and a form of communication with the audience. I plan to discuss what the nine emotions are, how they are communicated, and what they communicate to the audience.
Chakravorty, Pallabi. “Bells of Change: Kathak Dance, Women and Modernity in India”. Dance Faculty Works (2008): 31. Web.
Chakravorty wrote a critical study of Kathak dance within the discourses of modern and global dance cultures. It compares and contrasts Kathak with other dance types discussing anthropology, ethnomusicology and performance, media, and gender studies. It supports my point of the interaction between the dancers and the forces of cultural change from power and patronage to television and film.
Kothari, Sunil. Kathak: Indian Classical Dance Art. New Dehli: Abhinav Publications, 1989. 5 October 2015.
Kothari begins by talking about the history in this book. He then proceeds to explain the reader the different types of Kathak, such as expression dance, technical dance, and dance-drama. He also discusses the music and contemporary pieces and the modernization of this classical dance form. The different types of dance methods for Kathak is different variations of communication of the story a Kathak dancer is dancing.
Massey, Reginald. India’s Kathak Dance, Past, Present, Future. New Dehli: Abhinav Publications, 1999. 5 October 2015.
In this book, Massey discusses the costume and jewelry, technique, and new choreography of Kathak and how an audience member should appreciate a performance. He points out that costume and jewelry make up a big part of the presentation and that the outfit and makeup tell a story by themselves to the audience. This is a big concept in Indian classical dances. Makeup and jewelry illustrate so much and I plan on discussing this as its own genre.
Morelli, Sarah. “Intergenerational Adaptation in North Indian Kathak Dance”. Anthropological Notebooks 16.3 (2010). Web.
Morelli explains what Kathak dance is. She expands how the dance originated from northern India and includes sophisticated footwork and storytelling. This storytelling is a form of communication and genre. It also explains how the dance has adapted and grown and changed beginning in the early 20th century and how it impacted many Indian lives. I want to compare and contrast the early dance to the modernized dance and how the story might have been communicated differently and how the audience understood the story being told.
Portanova, Stamatia. “The Mereotopological Space/Time of Dance”. Sage Journals 16.2 (2013). Web.
This article analyzed a particular choreography by Anglo-Indian Kathak dancer Akram Khan and French ballet dancer Sylvie Guillem. The dance, Sacred Monsters was a mashup of classical and contemporary styles. This illustrates the communication between two completely different styles of dance from two separate geographical areas in the world. The author, Portanova, is reliable as she works with University of London under the Department of Media and Cultural Studies.
Saxena, Sushil Kumar. “Aesthetical Essays: Studies in Aesthetic Theory, Hindustani Music, and Kathak Dance”. PhilPapers (1981). Web.
Saxena depicts the Kathak dance and Hindustani music as genres and explains how the two communicate with each other and to the audience. He talks about the beauty that portrays through the Indian music played and the dance. It supports my point of dance being its own genre and how the beauty is perceived by the audience. Saxena is a reliable source because he has a degree and ethnomusicology and was trained in Indian Classical music.
Shah, Purnima. “Transcending Gender in the Performance of Kathak”. Dance Research Journal 30.2 (1998): 2-17. Web.
This article discusses the gender roles in Kathak and how it was influenced by the faith from the Hindu religious beliefs and practices. It focuses on gender roles of the dancers: what deities they portray and what that communicates to the audience and within the dancers. She is a reliable author because she is a classical dancer specializing in Kathak dance style. She also has a Ph.D in performance studies and ethnography from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
V, Jayaram. "Traditional Status of Women in Hinduism". Hinduwebsite. n.d. n.p. Web. 26 October 2015. <http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_women.asp>
This website discusses the role of women in hinduism in different aspects such as daughter, sister, and wife. It also explains how women are seen as "aspects of nature". This will help get my point of gender and its roles in Kathak as a Hindu cultural dance.
Walker, Margaret E. “India’s Kathak Dance in Historical Perspective”. Ethnomusicology Forum 24.2 (2014). Web.
This peer-reviewed article takes the reader through the history of Kathak and how it has stayed the same and has changed throughout time. It brings up Indian culture, terms, and modernization of the dance. Walker, who works with University of California, Berkeley, is reliable and supports my point of how the dance form has stayed the same or changed throughout the years.