Initially, Kathak was an integral part of the ritual of Vishnu temples. It was danced by the divine Krishna himself on the hood of the vanquished serpent.

Under the Muslim rulers of India, the religious content of dance gave way to the sensual. Kathak moved from temples to palaces. The Mughals elevated it to the rank of the main court dance. However, during the period of British colonial rule, Kathak enjoyed a " bad " reputation, and dancers were forbidden to enter decent houses.

The main schools of this dance were formed in Lucknow and Jaipur. The first of them is characterized by graceful movements and expressive facial expressions. Jaipur's dancers focused on the tempo of their performance. This school is also characterized by a kind of competition between the drummer and the dancer in the art of mastering the rhythm.

Today, the difference between the schools of Kathak is not so noticeable. Natural poses, gestures and facial expressions make it understandable to any viewer. In essence, the Kathak dance is a story about Northern India. Compared to Bharat Natyam, it doesn't have many meaningful gestures. The main elements of the style are repeated rotational movements around the vertical axis-chakras and rhythmic technique-tatkar. The dancer completes the turns on a certain beat in a fixed pose. Tapping, the performer makes a "tat" sound. At the same time, he does not just beat out the rhythm with his foot, but alternates between loud and soft blows. The variety of rhythmic variations is a distinctive feature of Kathak. The dancer's movements are emphasized by the sound of foot bells. Their number reaches two hundred on each leg. Dance masters can make them sound one at a time, or all at once.

In the Kathak, there is no specific order of subjects, as in Bharat Natyam. From a wide range of compositions, the dancer chooses the ones that are closest to him. Over time, some dances go out of the repertoire and are replaced by others. In the past, vandana - an appeal to the deity-was popular. In the palaces of Muslim rulers, it was replaced by an elegant salami greeting. The most common Kathak dances today are tarana and thumri. The battering ram is performed at a fast pace. This is not a story dance. Its peculiarity lies in the use of characteristic syllable combinations that duplicate the drum beats. Thumri is a lyrical vocal composition with religious content.

Like any classical style of Indian dance, Kathak involves solo performance. However, modern dancers prefer mass performances. This is a predominantly female dance. When men take part in the concert, they perform technically complex numbers.

The wardrobe of Kathak performers is characterized by an accentuated simplicity. A minimum of jewelry, sparkles - everything that is typical of oriental dance. Professional Indian artists don't even iron their costumes.

Of all the styles of Indian classical dance, Kathak is the most popular in Russia.

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