PRAYAG SANGEET SAMITI Syllabus for KATHAK Dance for First Year

PRACTICAL EXAMINATION 1) Four easy Tatkars with Hastak, Thaat, one Salami, one Aamad, 5 simple Toras, 2 Tihais in the basic, double, and quadruple speeds in Teental. 2) 2 modern short dances in Dadra and Kaharwa Taals. 3) Practice of clap-marked vocal demonstration of the Thekas in Teental, Jhaptal, Dadra, and Kaharwa in basic and double speeds. 4) Clap-marked vocal demonstration of Tatkar and Toras in the basic and double speeds. THEORY EXAMINATION 1) Definitions: Nritya, Nritya, Tatkar, Thaat, Salami, Aamad &Tora, Tal, Laya, Kinds of Laya ( Slow, medium, and fast), Matra, Aavartan, Vibhag, Theka, Sum, Taali (Bhari), Khaali (Phank), Thah, Doon, Chaugun, Tihai, and Hastak. 2) Discussion on Music and Its two leading systems in India. 3) Knowledge of recording Tatkar, Taal Thekas, and Toras in Bhatkhande or Digambar style of taal notation. 4) Full familiarity with Teental, Jhaptal, Dadra, and Kaharwa Tals.

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PRAYAG SANGEET SAMITI Syllabus for KATHAK Dance for First Year

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PRAYAG SANGEET SAMITI Syllabus for KATHAK Dance for First Year

1. DEFINITIONS: Nritya: Dance. Kathak Nritya: Kathak is one of the leading forms of Indian classical dance Kathak is a North Indian classical dance form. This ancient art of India derived its name Kathak from Katha, the art of story telling. (For more on Kathak, please read History of Kathak). Tatkar: The dance syllables that are produced from stomping are called Tatkar. The word Tatkar is about 700 years old. In Kathak dance the main syllables of Tatkar are: Ta thai thai tat, aa thai thai tat. Kathak dancers usually perform many variations of this basic Tatkar. Thaat: Thaat in general means decoration or a gracefiul attitude. Thaat is a stylized pose, which brings in a line waist, hips, thighs, neck, aims, chest, and feet. The dancer moves limbs of his or her body gracefullyin a slow tempo. Salami: The word salami literally means salutation. While performing salami, the dancer honors the audience by saluting it in a special manner. Salami is performed in the beginning of the performance. Aamad: Aamad is a persian word, which means an entrance. This piece is danced in the beginning of the performance and is composed of the characteristic patterns of Natwari bols, which are the basic syllables of Kathak dance. Toras: Toras are group of the basic Kathak syllables that usually start on sum(the first beat) and after two or more cycles end on Sum. Toras have several varieties of rhythmic patterns. Tal: Tal is a very important concept in Classical Indian dance and music. Tal is a group of certain beats. Tal is a measurement of time which calculates the number of beats utilized in certain time period. It is said that Bharat Muni discovered the 32 kinds of Tal in a song of a lark. Laya: Rhythm or tempo. Laya is a continuous movement in space of time. Music and dance without Laya will be as a body without bones. Kinds of Laya: There are mainly three kinds of Layas. Vilambit Laya: The slow tempo. Madhya Laya: The moderate or medium tempo. Drut Laya: The fast tempo. Matra: Beats. The Talas have been divided, which have been sub-divided in Matras. Basically, Matras are division in a time cycle. For example; the constant interval between the seconds is Laya, the time, which measures sixty minutes, is Tal, and the seconds are the beats. Aavartan: A cycle of any taal is called an Aavartan or an Aavriti. Vibhag: The divisions of a Tails called The sign for Vibhag is a small straight vertical line.

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PRAYAG SANGEET SAMITI Syllabus for KATHAK Dance for First Year

Theka: The syllables of any Tat played on Tabla is called a Theka of that particular Tal. Theka is a ground for all rhythmic variations and has a character of its own. It has a significant structural unity. Sum: Arrival point of a Tal. Returning on the first beat after completing a time cycle. Sum is the first beat of any Taal and is accented more than any other beats. Sum is denoted by the sign X. Taali: Taali is also called Bhari. Taali means clapping. Besides Sum the other beats in a Tal on which we clap. Khali: Khaliis also called Phank. The word khali means empty. Khali is the rest point of a Ta!. The Tabla player stops playing left Tabla on the syllables of Khali. Khali is denoted by the sign 0. Thah : Slow speed. One beat for every beat. Eor example: 1 2. Doon: Double speed. Two beats into one beat or double time the speed of the basic time cycle. Chaugun: Fourth speed. Four beats into one beat or four time the speed of the basic time cycle. Tihai: Concluding movements or a dance phrase repeated three times. Hastak: The hand movements in Kathak are called Hastak. 2) Discussion on Music and its two leading systems in India: SANGEET (MUSIC) The basis of Indian music is a threefold art form of vocal music, instrumental music, and dance. These three art forms were originally derived from the single field of stagecraft. Today these three art forms are differentiated into complex and highly refined individual art forms. Today vocal music is referred as Gayan, the instrumental music is referred as Vadan, and dance is referred as Nritya. The two leading systems or styles of music in India are Hindustani sangeet and carnatic sangeet. a) HINDUSTANI SANGEET: (North Indian Music: Hindustani Sangeet covers an area that extends roughly from Bangladesh through northern and central India into Pakistan and as far as Afghanistan. Hindustani Sangeet can be thought of as a mixture of traditional Hindu music concepts and Persian performance practice. There are number of musical instruments associated with Hindustani Sangeet. The most popular north Indian instruments are: Sitar, Tabla, Sarangi, Santoor and Sarod. Some of the major vocal forms associated with this system are: Khayal, Ghazal, Thumri, Tappa, Tarana, Dhrupad, and Dhamar. The lyrics are taken from the poetiy written in north Indian languages, such as, Hindi, Urdu, Avadhi, and Braj Bhasha

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PRAYAG SANGEET SAMITI Syllabus for KATHAK Dance for First Year

b) CARNATIC SANGEET: ( South Indian Music): Carnatic music is the south Indian system of music. It is found in the south Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala,. Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. Purandardas is considered to be the father of Carnatic Sangeet. It has a rich history and a yen sophisticated theoretical system. The most poplar south Indian instruments are: Veena, Mridangam, Violin, and Gottuvadyam. Some of the major vocal forms of this system are: Varnam, Ragam, Pallavi, and Tillana. The Iyrics are taken from the poetry written in south Indian languages, such as, Tamil, Telagu, and Kannada. 3) Recording of Toras and Tatkar in Bhatkande Tal System a) Recording of tatkaar in first speed: 1 Ta X 2 s 3 4 Thai s 5 6 Thai s 0 7 Ta 8 Ta 9 Aa 2 10 s 11 Thai 12 s 13 14 Thai s 3 15 Ta 16 ta

b) Recording of tatkaar in second speed: 1 X 2 3 thai 4 tata 5 Aa s 0 6 thai 7 thai 8 9 2 10 thai 11 thai 12 tata 13 Aa s 3 14 thai 15 thai 16 tata Ta s thai tata Ta s

c) Recording of Tora (Tukda) in Teentaal 1 x ta _ ta thai ta thai ta thai _ ta thai _ ta thai _ ta thai 2 3 4 5 0 tata tat thai _ thai tat _ ta aa ta tat thai thai tat tat _ 6 7 8 9 2 aa tat ta tat thai ta tat tat tata thai tat tat ta tat ta tat 10 11 12 13 3 thai ta tat tat _ _ tat ta ta thai ta tat thai _ _ tat 14 15 16

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PRAYAG SANGEET SAMITI Syllabus for KATHAK Dance for First Year

Tukda 2 in Teen Taal 1 diga diga x ta ka x dha ta x diga diga x 2 3 diga diga thai _ 5 thai ta 2 tho _ tig dha ta tig dha ta 2 diga diga ta thai ta _ diga diga 2 dhin dhin dha dha 2 4 ta _ 6 thai _ 7 _ thai 8 ta ka 9 tho _ 0 ta tig dha ta 0 diga diga ta thai 0 dha dha 0 10 11 diga diga diga diga tho _ ta _ tin tig dha aa thai tin 12 thai _ ta tig ta _ ta 13 ta _ 3 dha ta 3 ta thai 3 ta 3 14 thai ta 15 thai _ 16 _ thai ta tig ta _ dha

diga diga tig dha aa thai dhin ta _ dhin

diga diga tig dha ta _ dhin aa thai dhin

4) Full Familiarity with Teental, Jhaptal, Dadra, Kaharwa. TEENTAAL Tal Teental has 16 Maatras (beats), 4 Vibhags (divisions), 3 Taalis (claps) and 1 Khali. Teental is the most common Taal in Indian music and dance and is played mostly with the Classical music. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Dha dhin dhin Dha Dha dhin dhin Dha Dha tin tin Ta Ta dhin dhin Dha x 2 0 3 JHAPTAL Tal Jhaptal has 10 Maatras (beats), 4 Vibhags (divisions), 3 Taalis (claps) and 1 Khali. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Dhi Na Dhi Dhi Na Tin Na Dhi Dhi na x 2 0 3

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PRAYAG SANGEET SAMITI Syllabus for KATHAK Dance for First Year

DADRA Tal Dadra has 6 Maatras (beats), 2 Vibhags (divisions), 1 Taali (claps) and 1 Khali. Dadra is played mostly with the light classical music. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dha Dhi Na Dha Tu Na x 0 KAHARWA Tal Kaharwa has 8 Maatras (beats), 2 Vibhags (divisions), 1 Taali (claps) and 1 Khali. Kaharwa is played mostly with the light classical music. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Dha Ge Na Tee Na Ka Dhin Na x 0

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