Born in India, Das comes from a long line of dancers. His family owned one of the oldest dance studios in India, and his father was an accomplished dancer in his own right. Das began his training in kathak a form of classical Indian dance that aims to tell a story through its movements at the age of nine.
"I grew up in the traditional Indian classical system, so I'm a product of that," Das said in a video on his website.
Kathak dancers are equipped with ghungroo, or ankle bells, which accent the subtle movements of other parts of the body, according to the Hopkins Center program notes. The dance itself is also accompanied by classical Indian instruments. Das is considered one of the world's masters of this uniquely Indian art form, and he has performed and taught all around the world in an effort to bring more exposure to the dance.
Despite being born nearly halfway around the world and being 40 years Das' junior Smith's career developed similarly to Das'. Also born into a musical family, Smith began dancing as a child and has become a leader in the tap dance world. Smith, like Das, is considered one of the world's best dancers of his kind, and he won an Emmy Award to recognize his choreography for the opening dance of the Jerry Lewis/Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon in 2003, according to the program notes.
Before last week's show, Das and Smith co-hosted two functions related to their fields a dance master class held in White River Junction in which Das and Smith took turns teaching young dancers kathak and tap, and a lecture titled "Masters and Gurus: Experimental Learning through Mentorship," which was moderated by Dean of the College Charlotte Johnson.
During the lecture, a clip from "Upaj" (2011), a documentary based on Das and Smith's collaboration, showed how the two met at the 2004 American Dance Festival. Das was taken by Smith's tap dancing and joined him up on stage for an impromptu duet. From then on, the two became an unlikely duo. Das was also drawn to Smith because of his perceived resemblance to tap legend Gregory Hines.
"Basically, I wanted to dance with somebody strong, and I didn't get to dance with Gregory [Hines]," Das said in the lecture.
Hines, who was a major influence on Smith, died a year before Das and Smith had met. Following the loss of his mentor, Smith felt lost and unsure about his future.
"I felt like everything was over at one point," Smith said. "Then I started opening myself up and just being, you know, ready for anything. Then when I got the opportunity to meet Chitresh and work with him, it was something completely new and different at the time, but it spoke directly to me because it had so many things that I could relate to."
During the lecture, it was obvious from their rapport that the two men had an undeniable chemistry that was charming and humorous. The relationship translated smoothly to their dancing, which became visible during their performance.
"India Jazz Suites" was split into three sections. The first section, a showcase of Smith's tap talents, was accompanied by his jazz band. His quick, subtle motions produced sounds so fast and unusual all produced by a simple pair of shoes. His rhythms were in perfect synch with his band's accompaniment, particularly with pianist Theo Hill, whose performance was impressive in its own right. Smith's section of the show, however, lasted too long, and his impromptu rapping seemed out of place.
The second section of the show featured Das showing off his mastery of kathak. This portion particularly contrasted with Smith's tap section because kathak requires the use of one's hands to tell a story in addition to the footwork. As Das performed his way through "Shakuntula," a classic Indian story involving a king who saves a maiden from a bee attack, he more than made up for his less complex foot movements with the expressive gestures of his hands.
The finale was a spectacular hybrid of the two dance forms. During this section, the relationship between tap and kathak became tangible as the Indian music, jazz and the two dance styles combined into one beautiful spectacle. Das and Smith showed how the two forms could work cross-culturally by dancing to the other dancer's musical style. This section should have been much longer, however, and should have occupied the bulk of the show instead of being featured in such a brief finale.
Regardless, "India Jazz Suites" was nothing short of magnificent. With any luck, Das and Smith will be back soon to burn up the stage together with their epic and wholly original mash-up.
