Kathak: Indian Classical Dance
Kathak can be performed by both women and men. Since it is linked to the Hindu culture, the performances have specific gender roles. Purnima Shah explores that concept and focuses on gender performances, and explores the fluidity of the performances and what they mean or portray to the audience. It is quite common for male dancers to perform Kathak dance due to its rigorous steps. In the Mughal Courts, it was mainly performed by females as a form of “entertainment” with a few males accompanying them as necessary. Today, it is performed equally by both genders if not more by males. Both men and women equally portray female and male deities through costume, make-up, and jewelry as a part of the “indigenous philosophical concepts of ‘oneness’ or non-dualism exemplified in Kathak abhinaya” (Transcending Gender in the Performance of Kathak 30.2).
Gender roles in Hindu culture are significant. According to Jayaram V, women are thought of as "aspects of nature" or an "embodiment of Universal Mother, Shakti, the Mother Goddess". Therefore in the olden days, for the dance dramas performed, men used to portray both men and women roles because it was thought to be to rough and rigorous for a woman's body. This significantly changed during the Mughal Era as the king and people of the courts enjoyed the intertainment by woman dancers more than men. From then on, both men and women equally learn and perform Kathak. In fact it is encouraged to do so, and the men and woman who learn this intricate dance that is both gentle yet endurance-demanding, are admired by the Hindu as well as other dance culture populations.
