A young and signifi cant fi gure on the tap dance scene, Smith amazes with breathtaking footwork, a deep and intuiti ve understanding of rhythm, and a real sense of soulfulness.
At 67 years of age, Pandit Chitresh Das, on the other hand, comes from a whole other culture, generati on and dance traditi on.
A child prodigy of Kathak dancing, Pandit Das has been an inimitable spokesperson for traditi onal Indian dance and, at the same ti me, remaining fl exible within traditi on in relati on to new rhythms, movement vocabularies and music.
Kathak dancers perform in bare feet with two pounds of gold att ached to each of their ankles while performing traditi onal Indian storytelling dances. The gold ornamentati on creates a musical sound as the dancer’s feet step, pound and spin on the fl oor.
His teaching, performances and choreography have widely disseminated the basis of Kathak dancing throughout the globe and have garnered him an internati onal fame as an unbelievably talented dance presence.
As featured in the recent documentary about their unlikely partnership UPAJ, Smith and Das met at the Festi val of Feet during the American Dance Festi val.
“The Smile Specialists"
Samuels Smith described it as a "mind-blowing experience." This cross-cultural meeti ng generated a lot of electricity while "backstage trading diff erent jam sessions, exchanges and rhythms."
Fastest Feet In Rhythm arose from their initi al meeti ng and has become a showcase for virtuosic performance and deeply aware engagement.
Samuels Smith comments, "We do a lot of improvisati on in the show. We try to feature whatever energy is taking place at the ti me." Both dancers’ profi ciency and skill allows them to react in a way that takes their dance dialogue into a deeper level of rhythmic conversati on. So, even though each has a traditi on and vocabulary that is radically disti nct, in the camaraderie of performance, there emerges an improvised trading of culture and style.
Samuels Smith said, "The type of energy that you can generate with a crowd, energy from diff erent musicians, diff erent dancers, that energy will never be re-created, you have to be completely in that moment. You have to be technically prepared. You have to be mentally and emoti onally prepared. You have to practi ce so that when you get to the moment, you don’t have to think."
Samuels Smith adds, "I am also being aff ected by how spiritually
in touch and in tune these dancers and musicians are in classical Indian dance. There is this sense of camaraderie and deep respect that I really admire." With an art form like dance, the measure of its goodness lies in performance and stretching beyond your limitati ons. Samuels Smith believes "if you don’t reach, then will never achieve that greatness."
By opening up to broader infl uences, both of these dancers have expanded their repertoire and created new rhythmic possibiliti es in their art.
"This show is a once-in-a-lifeti me experience because it will be completely original. We will never re- create this show that we are going to do in St. Catharines again. It will be a conversati on of culture, and style, and age, and religion, and politi cs, and storytelling, and the past, and the present, and the future."
Writt en by freelance writer/editor and DanceSpeak moderator Jon Eben Field.
www.jonebenfi
eld.com
Pre-Show Lobby Chat 6:30 p.m.
D Sance peak
April 4 – October 4, 2012 FOR GROUP AND INDIVIDUAL VISITS TO THE FLORIADE CONTACT:
Dr. Mark Zammit B.D.S.,
M.Sc.D (Ortho), MRCD, FRCD (Canada) St. Catharines (905) 682-8375 Ridgeway (905) 894-5903 E:
info@zammitortho.com W:
www.zammitortho.com
38 centrestage - SPRING 2012
www.brinkmantravel.com Ineke Brinkman 905.988.9100
First Class Service Worldwide TRAVEL
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