Kathak

This is also a one of the oldest Indian classical dance form that had its origin in the north Indian state. In the ancient hindu temple there were story tellers who used to narrate the stories of gods and goddesses to the Audience. Traditionally they were known as 'kathakar' (the one who narrate the stories or a 'katha') and the dance they used to perform to convey their katha got named as ' kathak'. We can trace an immense influence of the rituals and temple dances. And also the bhakti movements over this dance form. That is why the themes like Krishna's holi or raas-leela and mythological characters; Radha, Shiva and parvati are very much a part of this dance form. 16th century onwards the kathak dance begin to absorb certain characteristics of central Asian dance and Persian dance which were basically brought by the royal courts of the mughal phase.

Kathak has three main and important 'gharanas' or school of lineage these are; lucknow guarana, banaras (varanasi) guarana and jaipur gharana. Kathak is a featured by the rhythmic footwork and pirouettes that is amazingly fast and rigorous executed on the music played by the instrument table and harmonium. It is purely based on facial expression  in which eyes plays the most important role. This dance doesn't use any extreme torso and waist's bend. The feet are adorned with bells sprung around the ankles which give a loud , audible and cordial sound. The costume of female dancer of this dance form is a long-flowing ankle length skirt with the beautiful ethnic jewelry.