How would you explain or describe Kathak dance to someone who has never seen it before?
AK: Kathak is a North Indian Classical dance form and the word itself means to tell a story, so it’s basically a story-telling dance. As in all Indian dance, it’s hugely influenced by Hindu mythology, but what’s particular about Kathak is that it has a lot of Islamic influence, so you have this spiritual element from the Hindu and the Islamic culture and traditions. So, it’s a very mathematical, complex, rhythmical… you know we dance using our bare feet with bells so it’s almost like tap dance, but without the shoes! Instead of the shoes we have bells. It’s extremely volatile and exciting to watch, rhythmically, and it has a real sense of sheer speed, but also stillness. So, it’s really kind of shifting from extreme speed to sudden stillness. But using this kind of energy and these kinds of rhythmical patterns, in the end it’s about telling stories and we use gestures, hands, particularly the face for more kind of narrative work. Q: Can you tell me a bit more about Gnosis? AK: It’s rea
