<p>One is a tap star from New York and the other a kathak maestro. When Jason Samuels Smith and Pandit Chitresh Das joined hands, rather, feet on Sunday evening, the audience gathered at the IIMB were lost for words.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Such was the power and grace their performances exuded. Performing on the final day of Unmaad, the cultural festival of IIMB, the duo broke all barriers of race, age and genre and have been doing so ever since they met each other in 2005 at the ‘American Dance Festival’. <br /><br />Called the ‘Fastest Feet First’, a simulation of ‘India Jazz Suites’, the event began with Jason taking the stage to huge applause. The Emmy-awarded tap star, got into business without much ado. While his shoes did the all the talking, the African-American also entertained the crowd with his casual chat and went on to talk about growing up <br />in New York.<br /><br /> Smith’s moves were sometimes powerful, sometimes light even as the rhythm remained unbeatable. After his solo show, Pandit Chitresh Das walked in majestically, holding an aarti thali. The sixty-plus dancer was as young as he could get. He began his performance with an invocation. Das went on to explain the mathematics in kathak and the crowd was all ears to it. <br /><br />He explained how mathematics is a part of Indian dances and it being our heritage. The audience picked up a few math lessons in the process. He then presented a piece from Shakuntalam not without explaining it. Be it the valiant king Dushyant, the coy Shakuntala or the galloping horse, his feet and expressions narrated it all. But what remained an unforgettable experience was when the exponent presented the sound of a train with his feet, according to different matras. He took the audience on a beautiful train journey that they won’t forget for a long time. “This was taught by my guruji when I was nine-years-old,” he explained. <br /><br />And proving how practice makes man perfect, he went on to play the tabla while singing and dancing as well. This was kathak yoga, the maestro told the crowd and how they could also do it. Jason then re-appeared, and rapped to the bols and the tabla.<br /><br />All differences of culture vanished when Smith danced to the sitar strains and the tabla, which was quite a tough act. But he did it with ease and plenty of grace. The duo came together once again and conversed with each other with their feet. The purity of each style, however, remained in tact. As the sound of steel shoes and the ghungroos reverberated in the air and the performance ended on a high note, there were many jaws dropped.<br /></p>
<p>One is a tap star from New York and the other a kathak maestro. When Jason Samuels Smith and Pandit Chitresh Das joined hands, rather, feet on Sunday evening, the audience gathered at the IIMB were lost for words.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Such was the power and grace their performances exuded. Performing on the final day of Unmaad, the cultural festival of IIMB, the duo broke all barriers of race, age and genre and have been doing so ever since they met each other in 2005 at the ‘American Dance Festival’. <br /><br />Called the ‘Fastest Feet First’, a simulation of ‘India Jazz Suites’, the event began with Jason taking the stage to huge applause. The Emmy-awarded tap star, got into business without much ado. While his shoes did the all the talking, the African-American also entertained the crowd with his casual chat and went on to talk about growing up <br />in New York.<br /><br /> Smith’s moves were sometimes powerful, sometimes light even as the rhythm remained unbeatable. After his solo show, Pandit Chitresh Das walked in majestically, holding an aarti thali. The sixty-plus dancer was as young as he could get. He began his performance with an invocation. Das went on to explain the mathematics in kathak and the crowd was all ears to it. <br /><br />He explained how mathematics is a part of Indian dances and it being our heritage. The audience picked up a few math lessons in the process. He then presented a piece from Shakuntalam not without explaining it. Be it the valiant king Dushyant, the coy Shakuntala or the galloping horse, his feet and expressions narrated it all. But what remained an unforgettable experience was when the exponent presented the sound of a train with his feet, according to different matras. He took the audience on a beautiful train journey that they won’t forget for a long time. “This was taught by my guruji when I was nine-years-old,” he explained. <br /><br />And proving how practice makes man perfect, he went on to play the tabla while singing and dancing as well. This was kathak yoga, the maestro told the crowd and how they could also do it. Jason then re-appeared, and rapped to the bols and the tabla.<br /><br />All differences of culture vanished when Smith danced to the sitar strains and the tabla, which was quite a tough act. But he did it with ease and plenty of grace. The duo came together once again and conversed with each other with their feet. The purity of each style, however, remained in tact. As the sound of steel shoes and the ghungroos reverberated in the air and the performance ended on a high note, there were many jaws dropped.<br /></p>
