UPAJ - Part II - NRITYA (Section # 1): Column by Janaki Patrik

In my two-part essay entitled "UPAJ - Improvisation in Kathak", written for Narthaki Online, I endeavor to demystify Kathak's rhythmic and storytelling improvisational processes. I suggest that improvisation is an art which is learned and practiced - an art which is not limited only to those who are "born with it". UPAJ - Part I - NRITTA examines the structures in Kathak dance, which support rhythmic improvisation. The essay you are now reading - UPAJ - Part II - NRITYA -- examines the techniques and performance practices, which support improvisation in Kathak storytelling.

MEMORIES
I arrived at Palam Airport in the muggy, pre-monsoon heat of July 1967. It was the beginning of my first trip to India to study Kathak at Kathak Kendra with Maharaj ji (later honored as Padma Vibhushan Pandit Birju Maharaj). I lived with the Garga family in staff housing on the grounds of Bal Bhavan, the National Children's School, which had been founded by Nehru and was located a short walk from Kathak Kendra. Poppa Garga, Director of the Art Department of Bal Bhavan, had been awarded a Rockefeller grant to study in the United States in the mid-1960s. To return the hospitality he had experienced in New York City from one of my friends, Poppa and his wife welcomed me into their family like an elder sister of their three children.

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