An electrifying collaboration that crosses all boundaries of age, race and culture—as one of India’s foremost Kathak masters, Pandit Chitresh Das, teamed up with one of the world’s fastest tap dancers, Emmy Award winner Jason Samuels Smith. The event held on April 20 at the Institute of Contemporary Art was simply mesmerizing.

Pandit Chitresh Das, the Guru of New England Kathak teacher, Gretchen Hayden, is a world renowned Kathak trained in both the Lucknow and the Jaipur Gharana.  He is the creator of Kathak Yoga a novel technique that combines Kathak footwork with playing of Tabla and the enunciation of the Kathak bol.  Jason Samuels Smith is a multi-talented leader in the art form of Tap. The two great artists, who were both child prodigies, met at the American Dance Festival and decided to collaborate to create this fabulously entertaining evening where two forms of rhythmic creations come together.

The program opened with a solo by Jason Samuels Smith. Along with Theo Hill on the Piano, Ryan Berg on the Bass and Andrew Atkinson on the Kit Drum, Smith created magic with his fabulous tap dancing.

Act II introduced Das to the audience. Das opened with Shiva Vandana – a prayer to Lord Shiva. He then moved on to pure rhythmic dance numbers – Thaat and Bol Paran. He ended the act with a lovely Abhinaya or story telling number that retold the tale of Shakuntala and Dushyanta.  Das’s presentation clearly established him as a maestro who had complete control of every bell and every muscle in his body. His control over rhythm was masterful. Unfortunately the short time did not allow much exploration of Abhinaya.  He gave a brief glimpse of a rather humorous take on this tale that was made a classic by the great poet Kalidasa.

In the third act there was a rhythmic jugalbandi between the two artists. In the  fourth act all artists came together and there was a sheer explosion of melody and rhythm on stage.  A special mention needs to be made of the wonderful musicians Abhijit Banerjee (Tabla) , Debashish Sarkar (Vocal)  and Jeyantha Banerjee (Sitar)  who provided brilliant accompaniment. Debashish Sarkar’s amazing voice had the ability to bring the exact right emotion for every mood.

Overall the experiment clearly showed that when two talented artists collaborate the result is sheer magic. !  

|