Kathak's relationship with other Dance forms

Kathak Yoga

Kathak Yoga is a technique created By Pandit Chitresh Das, and is not related to Yoga. The dancer has to recite the taal, sing a melody, and perform complex footwork and spins all within the same composition, and frequently with two or more of these elements occurring simultaneously. The aim is to unify the various aspects of Kathak, so that the dancer is constantly aware of the precise relationship of whatever composition is being danced (whether a song or a dance composition) to the rhythm cycle.

Flamenco

There are many striking similarities between Kathak and the Flamenco dance of the Spanish gitanos, most notably in the lack of much deviation from the vertical axis, percussive footwork, and dependence on (sometimes complex) rhythmic cycles.

It is generally supposed that the Romani people emigrated from India sometime in the 11th century. One group would later enter Spain via North Africa, having first passed westward through Iran (then Persia) and the fringes of the Ottoman Empire. In these places, they encountered the very same cultural influences that were to later arrive in India through the various Mughal incursions and have such an impact on Kathak. Thus, flamenco and Kathak both received the same cultural ingredients but in two very different circumstances: the itinerant Romanis carried their Indian art forms' traditions with them and absorbed new influences as they travelled, while Kathak stayed rooted in India and received the same input as a result of those influences (Persian and aspects of Middle-Eastern dance) being imported by a new regime. The similarity of Kathak and flamenco is therefore explained by the same process (the grafting and mixing of Persian and Middle-Eastern dance elements on to an Indian base) working in two different ways.

Now of course the two traditions have had some seven or eight centuries in which to diverge; yet it is remarkable that the similarities between the two remain such that there have been many successful collaborative performances between Kathak and flamenco dancers (notably Sandra La Espuelita) without much need to dilute either style to accommodate the other.