The Hindi word "kathak" is derived from "katha" which means, "story". In medieval times, hereditary professionals called "kathakas" rendered religious epics. They mimed and sang the great Indian epics such as the "Mahabharata" and the "Ramayana" in vernacular languages for the edification of local populations as a form of religious expression of devotion to Hindu Gods. After Muslim and Mogul rulers created the culture of the Islamic court in north India, kathak was molded into a solo dance tradition.
Chitresh Das began studying at age nine with Pandit Ram Narayan Mishra in Calcutta, India. Of his master, Chitresh says, "I studied with my Guruji for eighteen years and, as is the tradition, the guru-disciple relationship ended only when my Guruji passed away." Chitresh was raised in his parents' dance school, Nrittya Bharati, a center of cultural activity in Calcutta visited by dancers, musicians, poets, authors, and philosophers. In the 1970s, Chitresh Das arrived in California at the behest of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan to teach kathak dance. At first, most of his students were Americans fascinated with the culture of India. As the population of immigrant Indians in the United States has grown since the 1980s, so has the popularity of Indian dance classes in that community. Along with the new population of students have come challenges to traditionality. Indian dance may be just one of many activities for most students, few of whom continue to professional level. Modern choreography dominates the traditional kathak dance repertory. In this environment, Chitresh has re-dedicated himself to his fellow immigrants of Indian descent by training their children in a traditional manner, while at the same time maintaining an artistic ecumenism regarding the inevitable changes that are attendant on teaching the genre in the United States.
Apprentice Anjali Jhangiani began studying kathak with Chitresh Das in 1989. This year she was initiated as a "shishya" in a ceremony where a master takes on the responsibility of training a disciple. Chitresh Das has only rarely taken on the responsibility of becoming a guru, i.e. teaching beyond the group class situation. Anjali is his first shishya of Indian heritage. Anjali's daughter has begun training in kathak with Chitresh Das as well.
top
