Kathak: Indian Classical Dance

            The Lucknow Gharana is considered to be Nritya Kathak, which is the expressive dance. Expressions and emotions, also known as abhinaya, are used. There are several types of expression that are used in Nritya style Kathak. There is also a lot of bhaav, or feeling. There are nine emotions/expressions used in the dance, also known as the Navarasas, where nava means nine, and rasa means emotion. Each of these nine emotions can represent a certain deities. Hasya (happiness) can be used to depict the Pramathas who were the “dwarfish attendants of Lord Shiva”, Krodha (anger) is used to depict Lord Rudra, Bhibasta (disgust) can depict Mahakal, one of the forms of Lord Shiva, Bhayanaka (fear) is often used to portray Kala Bhairava, Shringara (love) is how Lord Vishnu is portrayed, Veera (courage) is often used to represent Lord Indra, Karuna (pity) can portray the God Yama, the King of Hell, Adbhuta (wonder) is used to portray Gandharva a term used to describe heavenly beings in Hinduism, and Shanta (serenity) is used to depict Lord Narayana (Classical Dance) (History of Indian Theatre).

            There are four types of abhinaya for Nritya dance. “Angik abhinaya is the term used for all gestures of the body…there are thirteen gestures for the head, thirty-six glances, seven movements for the eyeballs, nine for the eyelids and seven for the eyebrows. The nose, the cheeks, the lower lip, each have six gestures and the chin has seven…nine gestures for the neck.” (India’s Kathak Dance Past, Present, Future). Along with this, there are thirty-seven hastas, or hand gestures, twenty-four of which are one-handed and thirteen are double-handed gestures. Vachik “deals with dancer’s used of poetry, song, recitation, music and rhythm” (India’s Kathak Dance Past, Present, Future). Aharya abhinaya includes the Kathak dancer’s costume, make-up, and jewelry. “There are special provisions for the appearance of every type of character, so that the race, caste, social status and sex of any character is at once obvious” (India’s Kathak Dance Past, Present, Future). The fourth and last abhinaya is Satvik abhinaya. It “represents physical manifestations of various mental and emotional states”, meaning the dancer brings forth natural involuntary actions and emotions voluntarily to portray characters (India’s Kathak Dance Past, Present, Future).