In 1987, Pandit Chitresh Das came to SF State and taught the first accredited kathak course in the entire country. He balances on a delicate line between two cultures as he teaches kathak to American students.

At age 10, Das studied kathak, a classical Indian dance style, under his guru, Pandit Ram Narayan Misra.

He brought the style from Calcutta to America in 1970, when he earned a Whitney Fellowship from the University of Maryland.
Although kathak dance is traditionally passed down from guru to disciple, Das taught to many American students at once.

“The challenge lies in maintaining the integrity of the form while making kathak accessible to an ever-expanding audience,” he wrote in his autobiographical reader, Chitresh: Calcutta to California.
SF State students learn kathak’s culture and history by performing ceremonies such as the pranam.

In the pranam, students touch their ears to symbolize kathak’s oral tradition of storytelling, and show respect for gurus past and present, for the dance floor, and for the musicians.
Das teaches his class other Indian traditions as well.

“When we walk in, we bow and we say ‘Namaskar,’ which means, ‘the divine in me meets the divine in you,’” said Alicia Shorter, 26, who majors in sociology. “Do you really do that in any other dance class? Not really.”

After the pranam, students stand in place and practice the tatkar, a basic footwork pattern. The dancers bounce their bare feet against the floor, keeping time with a single tabla player who drums in front of the class.

“You’re a dancer, rhythm has to be in, absolutely in your blood and in your whole psyche,” Das said. “If your knowledge is not in tune with laya (tempo) and tal (rhythm), then you cannot be anybody.”
Indian music is commonly performed in rhythmic cycles of five, seven, or ten beats. Western music is commonly played in cycles of two, three or four beats.

The class practices a tintal, or 16-beat rhythm. Each beat they step has a corresponding word, which students must sing aloud while dancing.

The practice of singing and dancing at the same time is Das’s own creation, kathak yoga.

When Das traveled from Calcutta to America, he designed kathak yoga so he could practice alone. Now he can sing one rhythm, dance another, and play a third on the tablas, a small pair of Indian drums.

Kathak yoga is a new concept, and Sarah Morelli, one of Das’s students, is studying it at Harvard University.

“In [Das’s] philosophy, kathak yoga is primarily for one’s own inner development, and this isn’t necessarily meant for the stage,” she explained in an e-mail.

“Through this practice of uniting the interconnected elements of the dance within one dancer, this practice becomes a “yoga,” a word which is sometimes translated as union.”

Das does not expect his students to master the complexities of kathak yoga, but offers it to them as a challenge.

“The numbers, we are playing with numbers,” Das said to his class. “If you do this, your mind will get sharper. You will be focused on your own life.”

Kathak dancers act, portraying Indian epics that were once performed in Hindu temples and noble courts. Once a dancer develops “ardhanariswara,” a unity of sexual energies, they can transform from one character into another by changing his posture and facial expression.

“In one composition, you may have to switch between two characters very, very quickly,” said Ritu Mathur, a dancer at Chhandam, Das’s kathak school. “You have to feel both the energies from both of the characters in yourself.”

Jumping from side to side and smiling happily, the students portray five-year-old Lord Krishna in the story Kaaliya Daaman. When little boy Krishna loses his wooden ball in a river, he awakens Kaaliya, a serpent demon. The class sways from left to right, arms raised overhead, in the demon's form.

As the story goes, Krishna swims out toward Kaaliya and defeats him. Das urges his students to follow Krishna’s example in their own lives, and face their fears.

“Conquering your fears is what kathak kind of helps you do, you know, conquering your fears of singing, being embarrassed,” said Celeste Hernandez, a 23-year-old liberal studies major. Hernandez wants to teach, and kathak will help her get comfortable in front of the classroom, she said.

Turning 60 this Saturday, Das will debut his newest work, entitled “Sampurnam,” which means wholeness or complete.

Das’s life is not yet complete, he said.

“Until you leave a legacy of your students, you are not a Zen master. You are not a rock that everyone else will walk across,” he said.

Chitresh Das an will perform “Sampurnam” at the Cowell Theater at 8 p.m. on Nov. 4-6, and at 4 p.m. on the Nov. 14. Ticket price is $18.