Pandit Chitresh Das
Pandit Chitresh Das—Traditional Kathak Soloist and Artistic Director - A child prodigy, Pandit Chitresh Das has become one of the most dynamic and far-reaching artists to emerge from modern India. A prolific artist, his traditional performances, choreography and evolution of Kathak, the classical dance of North India, have influenced the art form world-wide. “A performer who has opened new avenues for his form, it is easy to see why Das has been acknowledged as a phenomenon.” Hindustan Times, India.
Pandit Das is first and foremost a master and virtuosic performer of the classical Kathak tradition. As a committed guru, he has trained many dancers who have gone on to establish their own careers in Kathak dance. Based on his concept of “innovation within tradition,” Pandit Das explores the boundaries of Kathak technique and performance, creating compelling, new works and techniques that are inventive, yet deeply rooted in the Kathak tradition. His groundbreaking technique, Kathak Yoga, is currently the subject of a doctoral dissertation at Harvard University.
Trained from the age of nine by his guru, Pandit Ram Narayan Mishra, Pandit Das was schooled in both major Kathak traditions, embodying each in his artistry: the graceful and sensual elements of the Lucknow school combined with the dynamic and powerful rhythms and movements of the Jaipur School. His performing career was launched in India when he was invited by Pandit Ravi Shankar to perform in the first Rimpa Festival in Benaras. He has since performed throughout India and internationally in many of the most prestigious festivals and venues, including the Lincoln Center, the Olympics, Surya Festival, Chennai, Dover Lane Conference, Kolkata, the National Kathak Festival in New Delhi, the American Dance Festival, for the Maharaja of Jodhpur and many others. In 2004 Pandit Das were featured in a national PBS television program and his performance in an historic court in Kolkata was broadcast on BBC national U.K. television. His collaboration with Tap star Jason Samuels Smith, India Jazz Suites, was placed first in the top ten dance productions of 2005 by the S.F. Chronicle in 2005 and was named one of the top ten productions of the year in 2010 by the Boston Globe, has toured India six times toured India, Australia and the U.S. in the 2010-11 season and will tour to more than ten cities in the U.S. through May 2012, with additional tours in Canada and India.
In 2009 Pandit Das was chosen as a National Heritage Fellow by the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2011 Pandit Das received an award from the prestigious Sarba Bharatiya Sangit Parishad in Kolkata, India.
Pandit Das spends a large amount of time in India performing, giving workshops and teaching at his school, Chhandam Nritya Bharati, in Kolkata. In April 2010, his school in India, Chhandam Nritya Bharati, opened its second branch in India in Mumbai. In order to make the knowledge and self-awareness that comes with learning Kathak accessible to all, he and Chhandam Nritya Bharati offer free, ongoing classes to children of the red light district in partnership with the New Light Foundation.
Jason Samuels Smith
In less than a decade, Jason Samuels Smith (performer, choreographer, director) has emerged as a multi-talented leader in the Art form of Tap. He received the 2009 Dance Magazine Award and won both an Emmy and American Choreography Award for “Outstanding Choreography” for the opening number of the Jerry Lewis/MDA Telethon in a tribute to the late Gregory Hines. He has created the First Annual Tap Festival in Los Angeles and has received a Proclamation from the City of Shreveport, Louisiana declaring April 23rd “Jason Samuels Day”. Some of his recent television appearances include a special guest spot on Fox’s hit series ‘So You Think You Can Dance,’ a choreographer for Grammy Artist Mya on ‘Secret Talents of The Stars,’ and as an associate choreographer for ‘Dancing With The Stars.’
