Kathak - The Dance of the Storytellers

Banaras Gharana

FOUNDER- JANAKI PRASAD

This is supposed to be the oldest of the three major styles. The pioneer, Janaki Prasad, was from a village in Bikaner, Rajasthan, who settled in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. He was a  Sanskrit scholar and dancer credited with inventing the ‘bols’ of Kathak which are mnemonic syllables within the language of this classical dance form. The Banaras form of dance is different from the other forms in its ‘natwari’ or dance ‘bols’. ‘Chakkars’ (spins) are kept at a minimum but are taken from both the right and left hand sides with equal confidence. Famous exponents of the Banaras gharana are Chunni Lal, Dulha Ram, Ganeshi Lal, Durga Lal, Sitara Devi, Shri Gopi Krishna, Harish Kumar etc.