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ABOUT KATHAK
Kathak is one of the eight forms of Indian classical dances, originated from northern India. This dance form traces its origins to the nomadic bards of ancient northern India, known as Kathaks, or storytellers. These bards, performing in village squares and temple courtyards, mostly specialized in recounting mythological and moral tales from the scriptures, and embellished their recitals with hand gestures and facial expressions.
Pure Dance (Nritta)
The structure of a conventional Kathak performance tends to follow a progression in tempo from slow to fast, ending with a dramatic climax. A short danced composition is known as a tukra, a longer one as a toda. There are also compositions consisting solely of footwork. Often the performer will engage in rhythmic 'play' with the time-cycle, splitting it into triplets or quintuplets for example, which will be marked out on the footwork, so that it is in counterpoint to the rhythm on the percussion.
Gharanas
There are three main gharanas - in the artistic sense the gharana was somewhat comparable to a "style" or "school".  Over the years poor transportation and communication caused the various gharanas to adopt their own particular approach to presentation, technique and repertoire. These gharanas are named according to the geographical area in which they developed.  These are the Jaipur, Lucknow, and the Benares gharanas.  Each has a slight difference in interpretation and repertoire.
Today, Kathak has regained its popularity after the period of decline during the rule of the British Empire. Kathak’s unique history has made it very different from other traditional dance forms, although it still retains the same roots. Expressive motion, rhythmic accuracy, graceful turning, poised stances, technical clarity, hand gestures (mudras) and subtle expression (bhava-abhinaya) are important components of modern Kathak.
Expressive Dance (Nritya)
Aside from the traditional expressive or abhinaya pieces performed to a bhajan, ghazal or thumri, Kathak also possesses a particular performance style of expressional pieces called bhaav bataanaa.