Indian dancing

INDIAN DANCING

Lord Krishna and the myths woven around this frolicsome deity. Perhaps the most popular of all of them is the romantic episode of Radha and Krishna, portraying their courtship, their lovers’ quarrels, and their frolics in the moonlit garden of Brindaban (or Vrindavan). Village life is also often depicted in Kathak dances — boys flying kites, milkmaids milking their cows, gitls plucking flowers and weaving garlands out of them, and so on.

There is very little stylization in Kathak, hence there is plenty of room for improvisation. A few standardized gestures for the representation of various objects do exist: for example, outstretched palms with hands interlocked in the vicinity of the forehead indicate a peacock, while Krishna is depicted in the act of lifting Mount Meru by the finger of one hand being pressed into the palm of the other. Various actions such as bathing or reaping also have their fixed representations.

At the start of a Kathak dance the body is rigidly composed, almost as though it were petrified. The feet are crossed, the right hand stretched out level with the shoulder, the left hand held above the head, which is kept erect. When the /ab/a begins its rhythm, the glassy eye becomes aglow, the arm trembles like a leaf in the wind, and the dancer begins the whirling movements of the dance.

Again legend explains the static pose: Shiva once wished to confer upon a demon any favour desired by the raksha, who cunningly asked for Shiva’s Rura, ot bangle, which had the power, when held above the head and accompanied by a magic formula, of disintegrating the body. The &#ra won, the demon planned to destroy Shiva and take the latter’s consort for his own spouse. While Shiva was being chased by the demon the artful Parvati started to praise the raksha’s grace, begging him to display his skill as a dancer.

Overcome by Parvati’s blandishments, the foolish demon started to dance, lifting the hand holding the bangle above his head. At that moment, Parvati recited the magic formula, whereupon Shiva’s putsuer ctumbled into ashes. The opening posture of the Kathak dance resembles that of the demon in the moment of his annihilation, and is a reminder of Shiva’s narrow escape.