PAPER 4
Detail Study Of Kathak, Nautch Girls, Nritta, Nritya, Different Gharana-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists
Module 31 Kathak, Tap And Flamenco
Dance audiences the world over have been stunned by the similarities between forms like Kathak and Tap, and Kathak and
Flamenco. This has resulted in some scholars trying to research these forms to trace similarities of form, commonalities, and possibly
shared histories, and to answer the question of why these forms bear such resemblance to one another. Let us take the question first -- of Flamenco and Kathak.
In a review of a New York performance of Pt. Birju Maharaj, dated 11th April, 1974, Jowitt, the Dance Critic of the New York based The Village Voice, likened his performance to a Spanish Zapateado, as Maharajji’s bearing, vigor, the stamping feet and the arm gestures directed out attention to the pulsating rhythm, “Except”, wrote Jowitt, “that Maharaj was not booted but barefooted”.
Kathak was born in the Northern plains of India and Flamenco grew out of the gypsy and Andalusian culture of Spain. Similarities
between the two can be seen immediately, on both a dance motivic level and on a structural level. By the dance motivic level is meant how the body is used in space with specific movements and
techniques, and how the body parts of hands, legs, feet, arms, torso
and even the whole body is held or turned. On the structural level, the similarities observed are of how smaller motifs and structures are linked and interwoven into a larger section, like carriage,
footwork and full bodily movements.
The Story of Kathak
To understand possible imbrications and influences we need to go back to the histories of the two forms. In its long history, Kathak has responded to its patronage patterns. When the patrons were Hindu temples or temple going populations, the dance of the Kathak
community had a strong religious and Hindu content. Despite the strongly held Hindu philosophy, the syncretic nature of early Islam in India reflected itself in a creative blend of the two, articulated in painting, poetry, music, architecture and dance.
As the original work spaces of the Kathak community, the temple complexes grew weaker, compared to the lavishness of the courts, that were the new patrons, the Kathaks adapted their art to the new demands. Strict Islam’s ideology rejected the depiction of human forms, preferring the decorative elements of abstraction. These included abstract body extensions, abstracting the body to the musical line and the abstract play of numbers in the complex rhythmic percussions. Thus in the courts, the Kathaks and the
descendants of the Persian dancers, especially those that came with Emperor Humayun, built beautiful intra-forms, around melody and rhythms. The love poetry moved from its religious and spiritual mood to the profane and erotic. So Radha and Krishna became more lovers than divinity and the dancers more entertainers than devotees.
With the coming of the British, even these work places were lost.
Unaware of the complexity of their art, the British painted all dancers with the same brush. The patronage afforded to them shrunk
drastically, and they often needed to move on to the harsh
competition of the streets to survive. As a result, newer and more complex footwork patterns were created, delivered with
flamboyance and drama, bringing it in this stage close to Tap and Flamenco, especially the Café Cant ante stage of Flamenco, which also shared a synchronicity with Kathak.
The Story of Flamenco/फ्ऱामेन्को-फ्ऱेमेन्को
Flamenco on the other hand is a heritage of Spain, especially the Andalusian South, and the gypsy lineage. Many ethnic groups and communities contributed to making such a strong economic and cultural center in the world under the moors from the 8th century onwards. The Moorish civilization in Spain was a little bit like the Mughals in India and subscribed to a high quotient of refinement and aesthetics, which was reflected in architecture, poetry and music, as well as what many hold to be true, dance. Between the 8th and the 15th centuries, the Moorish culture saw its heyday.
The wealth of the Moors/मूर, drew many communities towards its prosperity. Andalusia became one of the most important cultural capitals of the western world. For the same reason the gypsies were drawn to Andalusia. The gypsies came to Spain from India in many waves. Gypsies are believed to be nomads, who hail from India and some claim that they are from the highest social orders of Indian society while others claim that they are from the lowest strata of society.
Among gypsologists there is no final agreement on when the
migrations may have started. Some say the first migration was to flee Alexander’s invading armies. Amongst other reasons that are given is that they were hired out as entertainers to a Persian kingdom, or that they were tribes desirous of freeing themselves from the
shackles of the caste system. Some say they were communities from Rajasthan avoiding confrontation with the invading Muslim armies.
All these theories would suggest that the migrations happened between 350 BC to 15th century AD, with most happening between 5th to 10th centuries thereby suggesting that there was definitely more than one wave of migration.
The gypsies who came to Spain brought in the cultures of the lands that they passed through, along with their own already unique cultural forms. Also as they had met with persecution in so many places and in so many ways, they had learnt to be strong and survive, even under adverse conditions. The short respite that they
experienced in Andalusia came to an end when the Spanish
inquisition attacked this heterogeneous area, forcing out the gypsies and even pushing for their extermination. Andalusia became poverty ridden. In their defiance against this treatment and persecution, and in the interaction between the gypsy and the non gypsy who now had a shared experience of disenfranchisement, emerged Flamenco.
Flamenco was a dance and music expression that came out of the imbrications of gypsy and Andalusian folk forms. But the initial
impulse were the intensely painful moments that the gypsies would remember in private, in family gatherings in Gypsy homes, isolated bars and family living rooms. The most primary expression was the
“Cante” which vocalized their anguish over the centuries. This would
be accompanied, as if instinctively and spontaneously, or in response to the Cante, by some basic hand movements, starting from the wrist rotations to uplifted arms and fluid hips. Some link these movements with Moorish influences.
The word flamenco, which only came into use in the 18th century, and referred to the community of Fugitive peasants, the Arabic of which was “Felag Menju”. Thus like Kathak, the term is used later and then also to refer to the people and not the dance. Some ascribe another origin to Flamenco claiming that it came from the word
‘falamencia/पऱामेनसिआ’, and pointed to the fieriness that came from the brashness of the gypsies in particular and the Andalusians in general.
Initially looked down upon as all of Andalusian cultural life, it was the 18th century romanticizing of the gypsies and the topographical and cultural landscape of Andalusia that resulted in the revival of the form. Café Cantantes were formed and the art of the Flamenco
people was available in the public domain. The Café Cantante setting changed the performance content. The short, personal, intimate ritual was replaced by longer, more elaborate choreographies, with elements of virtuosity footwork, a more definitive body line,
evocative syllables and an entertainment driven public spectacle. The twentieth century saw flamenco move onto the most impressive international festivals and stages. Even as it accepted the terms of modernity and adapted extensively, it never lost its traditional core and did not stylistic integrity as well as its content.
Comparative Study of Kathak and Flamenco
Kathak and Flamenco have many specific aspects in common. Kathak was the dance of a unique community that flowered with influences of others. The community in both cases was called by the name, by which their art is known today- Kathak in Indian and Flamenco in Spain. If we believe some of the dance scholars, the point of origin of both Chaarans/चारण who later became Kathaks and the migrating gypsies was Rajasthan. Kathak grew out of the spiritual expression of a particular community, while Flamenco or rather Cante grew out of the outcry of human suffering of an oppressed and depressed
community. Both were intensely emotional experiences that produced instinctively a rasa or sentiment.
Kathak and Flamenco share a similar history of changes in dance performance contexts, in changes of form and in the function and agenda of the practice. From intimate settings that were personally significant, using the same art that was an intensely personal one, both Kathak and Flamenco moved to bigger and more challenging and impersonal spaces. They had to realign the content to the
context through inbuilt creativity as neither really let go the essential elements of the form.
They were both very proud of this cultural inheritance for while the Kathak proudly carried his community name as part of his name, as did Pannalal Kathak of Delhi AIR and Doordarshan, the Gypsies saw their dance as a signifier of their gypsy and Andalusian identity. The interesting aspect of both arts is that they did not adopt a victim attitude and either freeze or flee. Instead they fought by not
remaining fixed, and adapting successfully to all challenges. With this approach they won over not just traditional but also nontraditional and unfamiliar international artistes. Both forms have created a very
strong myth around themselves and a very positive image about themselves.
They negotiated with the ‘unfamiliar’ and the ‘other’ even when on a weaker wicket. The Flamenco artiste moved into Café Cantante
owned by non-gypsies, and redrafted their intangible heritage into creating a social value for themselves. Kathaks moved into the courts of the Mughals - a totally different social and religious setting, and power equation. The religious dichotomy compelled them to think creatively and find solutions. For instance, during the Mughal period, when Kathaks were asked to do so, they brought with them their tulsi-mala/तुऱिी-माऱा or rudraksha-mala/रुद्राक्ष-माऱा (instead of the idols of Hindu Gods) and then performed in the courts. In this manner, they did not offend the Muslim ruler, while having the solace of
keeping their traditions intact. This is how the two communities were able to adapt well, survive and flourish, while enriching the creative content of their art. It was by remaining alive in the gene pool of culture that the more rudimentary art forms were adapted into highly sophisticated and refined forms.
Both forms of art, faced a strong social stigma, but by being brave, bold and positive, they were able to turn things around for
themselves and be hailed as national treasures. Today their artistes enjoy the highest social status, get highly respectabla performance fee and have captured the imagination of their people and even the world. Many of India’s Kathak artistes have been hailed as National Treasures, with Pt. Birju Maharaj having been awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award. The recent demise of Spanish flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia hailed as an international star was announced by the mayor's office in Algeciras, southern
Spain, where he was born. Algeciras is to hold two days of official mourning. Its mayor, Jose Ignacio Landaluce, called the musician's death an "irreparable loss for the world of culture and for
Andalusia". These kinds of honours are rare achievements.
Unanswered questions
There are many questions that come to mind. Are the Kathaks of India the same as the gypsies of Andalusia? According to Indian
Gypsiologist W.R. Rishi, there was a very big exodus from India in the 12th century as a result of a Muslim invasion. At that time the group that migrated had included men and women, blacksmith’s horse traders, glaziers, dancers, reciters, astrologers, fortune tellers, bear handlers, monkey keepers, etc., which are all activities that the Romas or gypsies are known for. So was this group one of the migrant gypsy groups and were the dancers Kathaks? Nothing is known for sure, but it is a probable theory.
If the answers are yes, then the question arises, that at this stage the art of the Kathaks was still rudimentary as it had not experienced the efflorescence of the court phase. So then did the richness of
footwork happen separately? And yet ended up looking so alike? So if this be the case then the footwork which is what makes the instant comparative link is not what is common to the two styles. In that case, where are the other shared and common parts of an earlier vintage?
The Muslim Theory
Independent dance ethnologist and certified Laban Movement Analyst, Scholar, and Flamenco dancer, Miriam Phillips, offers
another theory about why despite the chronologies not matching there is a high proclivity of influencing. She calls this the “Muslim Theory”. This theory suggests that Muslim culture is the bridge between Kathak and Flamenco rather than the gypsies. The court culture of the Mughals and Wajid Ali Shah contributed to the
enrichment of Kathak. The Muslim, Moorish culture contributed to the enrichment of the art of Flamenco. Both Muslim groups, the Mughals and the Moors, are descended from the lineage of the
Caliphate. Phillips is also open to the fact that there could have been more than one Muslim influence on the Gypsies, and not just the Moors, as they travelled through many Muslim lands. So over continuous process of imbrications by the Muslim groups, made Flamenco what it is.
The Ship Theory
Flamencologist David Pohren has come up with another theory by which he claims that the dance was carried in merchant trading ships over several centuries. Such an impact can be seen in the religious, dance, and epic tradition that exists in South Asian countries which were the destination of Indian trading ships of the southern
kingdoms of the Cholas, Chera and Pandavas. What such theories prove is that there is need for archaeo- choreologists and ethno- cultural experts who must decipher from the finger prints left on the dance and music. Among some of the leading dancers who have worked with Kathak and Flamenco are dancers Uma Sharma, the young Prashant Shah, who divides his time between India and New York. There is a tendency of more such interactions to take place in countries where there is a tradition of Flamenco dance.
The USA based dancer Chitresh Das, who passed away suddenly in January 2015, first collaborated with Rosa Montoya whom he met at San Francisco State University where he established the
first university accredited Kathak course in the USA, as early as in 1980. More recently he collaborated with Flamenco artist Antonio Hidalgo Paz. When asked about the collaboration, Das said, “I am passionate about collaborations because they enable me to maintain the integrity of the Kathak tradition, while simultaneously expanding the spectrum of the art form. Collaborations enable me to challenge my own, and ultimately the audience’s, pre-conceived notions of these traditions. Antonio is a mature and adventurous artist with tremendous depth and virtuosity. I was inspired by how open and adventurous he was in approaching our work together.”
Hidalgo Paz, equally inspired within the collaboration with Pandit Das claimed that, “Working with an artiste of the caliber of Das, the aura he has, the speed he works in and the rhythmic concepts and
sounds of the music he creates, has taken me to my artistic limit; it has taken me to a new dimension because flamenco’s rhythms, while complicated, are much more predictabla. Working with Das is
like working without a safety net.”
The two artistes first met at American Dance Festival in 2004 where they performed in the Festival of the Feet, a program that
highlighted the similarities between Tap, Kathak and Flamenco. They titled their performance, Yatra/यात्रा: Journey from India to Spain,
which begins with the sunrise in the Rajasthani desert. At first glance, watching these two senior dancers perform makes it clear that
Flamenco and Kathak have much in common; they both employ improvisation, similar lyrical upper body movements and percussive
footwork. With an obvious difference being that the Kathak artiste dances barefoot and wears heavy ankle bells while the Flamenco dancer wears shoes. Live music and complex rhythmic cycles are central components to both art forms. In Flamenco, guitar, singing, clapping and a drum accompany the dancer. In Kathak, the musical accompaniments often include sitar/सितार, tabla/तफऱा,
sarangi/िारंगी and vocals.
At the very same American Dance Festival, Chitresh Das also met Tap virtuoso, Jason Samuels Smith. With him Das toured continuously from 2005. They even visited India with a production called “Fastest Feet First” that had a multi-city tour in India and performed at some unique venues, including the Rajarani temple in Bhubaneshwar. They are together the subject of the award-winning documentary
film, Upaj: Improvisation. Upaj literally means instantaneous creativity or improvisation. As both Tap and Kathak base their artistry on improvisation, this is a good title to give.
The Tap and Kathak Relationship
The striking resemblance between the two classical dance forms from two different corners of the globe enthralled the Both Kathak and Tap dance are all about the magic that is created by the rhythm of the feet. No one could have foretold how productive the clash of cultures between the clog and step dancing of the white European settlers especially Scottish and Irish indentured labour in America and the West African drumming and ‘juba’ dancing slave populations would produce. The result was Tap dancing which continues to be a popular genre of dance.
Tap dance originated among the Afro-American communities who in earlier times were prohibited from playing the drum. But when tap first reached the stage, it did so in the minstrel shows. The minstrel shows were not by the black but by white men imitating the black with their faces coloured with burnt cork to look “authentic”. Before the end of the Civil War in America-black and white performers were not appearing on stage together, with the exception of Master Juba (William Henry Lane), who was born a freeman and was such a master of the craft that he would get billing over all others. The fact that the faces had to be coloured black would today be read as racist, and worse still appropriative, but it testified to the fact that black culture was gaining in visibility and popularity!
In the 1800s the dance was called ‘Buck and Wing’, or ‘Buck Dancing’
or ‘Flat footed Dancing” (note the way the racism has been
disguised). It was only around 1900 that the dance was called Tap dancing and few years’ later metal taps were affixed to the shoes.
Prior to that wooden soles or hammered nails made for the tapping sound. Despite the onset of the twentieth century and the growing popularity of the form, black and white performers would work different circuits and perform before segregated audiences.
This was the prevailing pattern till what is known as the Harlem renaissance. One of the best known dancers of this time was Bill
“Bojangles” Robinson who was noted for dancing on his toes with clearly enunciated steps. He danced on stage and also on film with Shirley Temple. Two major variations on Tap dance exist: Rhythm (jazz) Tap and Broadway Tap. Broadway Tap focuses on dance; it is widely performed in musical theatre. Some of the forefathers and inspirations for Broadway Tap were Fred Astaire who provided a
Ballroom element to Tap and Gene Kelly who added the ballet dimension. Rhythm Tap focuses on musicality, and practitioners consider themselves to be a part of the Jazz tradition.
John W. Bubbles was a rhythm tapper. He brought in heel play and danced to syncopated rhythms. The Nicholas brothers were the
masters of Flash Tap that used jumps, splits, and acrobatics as part of their Tap routine. With so much happening around tap the movies were not far behind. Also from the 1970s onwards, white women who had been taught by old masters took the lead in dressing Tap up with choreographies that brought in modern aesthetics and old
knowledge.
At the end of the eighties due to the success George Hines and of some Tap based movies- “Black and Blue” (1989), “Sophisticated Ladies” (1983), “Jelly’s Last Jam” (---), “White Nights” (1985) and
“Tap” (1989), a new generation of dancers, Tap has been picked up by young black dancers. One of the most powerful of them is Savion Glover. It was Savion who choreographed the film “Happy Feet”. His Hip Hop Funk based Rhythm dance is known as Power Tap. It is
marked by dense and hard rhythms with no eye contact with the audience as the dancer has to “find his groove.” One of the best
examples of this form of Tap can be got in the Broadway show “Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk: A Hip Hop Discourse on the Staying Power of the Beat.”
KA-TAP: East West Encounters
One of the new trends that has been a subtext of the Tap scene is its efforts to engage with other foot stamping kind of dances from
around the world. One of the first such serious venture was by Janaki
Patrik and the New York-based Kathak Ensemble and Friends, which had been founded in 1978. It is important to note that such
experiments can be stages only where there are adequate numbers of dancers of both kinds. Traditional Janaki Patrik’s background may be, but she employed a twenty-first century mindset, when she blended American tap dancing with Kathak. Premiered on 1st October 1994, “KA-TAP: East West Encounters” was a successful marriage of East and West. KA-TAP offered a fascinating look at the rhythmic, melodic and visual possibilities inherent in the mingling of Hindu ragas with bebop, tap shuffle steps with ringing ankle bells and patter of bare feet against the floor… Most affecting of all was the finale. The dancers moved in unison, but in their respective styles, to an interweaving of Duke Ellington’s CARAVAN and a bewitching
Bengali song. Multiculturalism never had it so good as when the performers appeared together. The result was a harmonious cultural crossover.
Chitresh Das and Jason Samuel Smith
This energy was later picked up by Chitresh Das in his work with Jason Samuel Smith in the programme called India Jazz Suites and Fastest Feet in Rhythm. Together they have also worked on the documentary Upaj/उऩज: Improvisations, that looks at the art and the trajectories of the their journeys separately and together which started when das was 62 and Smith 26. Another recent experiment of the two forms coming together has been by Amika Kushwaha (Kathak dancer) and Susan Nase (Tap dancer).
In 2003, dancer Shovana Narayan made a film for the Ministry of External Affairs, called “Rhythmic Echoes and Reflections”, that
featured duets and trios with Tap dance, Spanish Flamenco and western classical dance.
There is no denying that the footwork of Kathak and the footwork of Tap can bring them on the same platform but while one is done bare feet with almost 200 bells around each ankle, the other is booted and hoofed. The sound possibilities of Ta, Thai Thei, Tat, Tram, Ghe, Dha/ता, थै थै, तत त्राम, घे, धा etc. are infinitely different from the happy feet of Tap. But if handled together intelligently, can make for a far richer aural and artistic tapestry than when alone.
