Kathak, one of the Classical Dance forms of India gets its origins from North India, eastern Uttar Pradesh around Benares and Ayodhya. The word "KATHAK" originates from katha, meaning story. Therefore Kathak started as a story telling dance by the ancient Kathaakars in the temples of North India. Their role was to teach and to entertain the masses using highly sophisticated poetic literature in Sanskrit. It was from this traditional home that dancers were drawn into the Luckhow courts during the Moghul period for the various kings. There was also the rahas dancers or rashdharis who specialized in Krishna Lila and kashmiri bhands introduced into these Lucknow courts. Hence this became a rich melting pot of various dance traditions. It is primarily the two brothers Bindadin Maharaj and Kalka Prasad, the world famous Birju Maharaji's grandfathers who were the main contributors to the Lucknow Gharana of Kathak. The Rajputs of Rajisthan who created the Jaipur gharana as we see it today.

Kathak, is a very graceful and elegant dance form that is linear and rhythmic. The dancer is always standing straight in first position with the feet turned out as seen in Ballet. The nritta of Kathak, or technical aspect of Kathak involves the use of the feet adorned with many bells creating various combinations of rhythmic patterns called Teehayis, Todas and Tukdas along with the use of fast paced Chakkars pirouettes wherein the dancer uses the heel to turn. It also draws similarities with the Spanish dance form Flamenco through the use of clapping along with the footwork when creating rhythmic combinations. The Abhinaya of kathak is subtle and intricate and the gestures used make the movements graceful or stong based on the story being depicted.

The abhinaya compositions are mainly in form of Tumris and Vandhanas such as Ganpati, Saraswati and Shiva vandhans. The Tumris often describe a love story and the emotional aspects tied to this complex relationship. Kathak is perhaps the only classical dance form which brings out the influence of 2 religions mainly due to the invasion of the Turks and Persians into north India. It was the muslims that predominently contributed to the dynamic quality of Kathak. Parhaps the most remembered muslim ruler tied to kathak is Nawab Wajid Ali Shah who was deeply passionate about Kathak and also known be a great kathak dancer himself.

Hence, today we see the Muslim and hindu versions of Kathak in different compositions. A Taraana composition is fast and is normally performed in the Muslim style. A Taraana's music consists of a single line made of meaningless syllables set to a particular Raga or Tune. Most Hindu based compositions are related to stories on the life of Lord Krishna & Radha. But we also see other compositions (Padhs, Vandhanas, Sargam and Thandav pieces) that describe other Gods and Godesses of Hindu Mythology such as Lord Brahma The Creator, Lord Vishnu The Preserver and Lord Shiva The Destroyer.

There are 2 main styles of costumes in Kathak:

• The Muslim style consists of a Kurta with flair and volume, for it to turn around as the dancer makes Chakkars and the Churidhar similar to leggings to accentuate the the leg movements and display the Ghungroos or Bells of the dancer.

• The Hindu style is a Ghagra-Choli style where the dancer wears an ankle length skirt that also has a lot of volume; a short blouse or Choli and a Dupatta which is a long piece of fabric wrapped elegantly around the top half of the dancer's body. The cuts given for a male dancer are more simple as they are more straight and come in only one style-the Kurta and Churidhar