Bryn Mawr College

India Jazz Suites Offers Dialogue Between Indian and African-American Traditions

Acclaimed performers Pandit Chitresh Das, a master of the Indian dance form kathak, and Jason Samuels Smith, who's been called "one of the brilliant young talents reanimating the art of tap dancing," will present their groundbreaking collaboration, India Jazz Suites, in Goodhart Theater next Friday, Feb. 15, at 8 p.m. The program is part of the College's Performing Arts Series.

India Jazz Suites presents a conversation between the two dance and musical traditions represented by Das and Smith, with each taking up and transforming rhythms from the other's performance. The performace has been described as a series of "parallel monologues" that explores both forms through a collaboration that never becomes a fusion of the two syles.

Pandit Das, one of the world's best-known performers of Indian classical dance, has performed throughout India and internationally in many of the world's most prestigious festivals and venues. His Chandam School in the San Francisco Bay area is the largest school of classical Indian dance outside India.

Jason Samuels Smith is one of the leading young proponents of tap dance. His choreography has earned both an Emmy and an American Choreography Award, and his performances have been featured in numerous television productions and films. He first rose to national prominence as a member of the Tony-winning Broadway cast of Bring in Da’Noise, Bring in Da’Funk.

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Posted 2/7/2008 by Claudia Ginanni