Darryl Thomas taught “Afro-Disiac” to the students of Sapphire Dance Academy in Kolkata

Reportedly, well known American dancer cum choreographer Darryl Thomas made his presence in Kolkata and conducted a workshop for the students of Sapphire Dance Academy spanning three weeks. Being a part of his tour, particularly he showcased a composition “Afro-Disiac” at the American Center in Kolkata.
Darryl Thomas elaborated that Afro-Disiac mixes the athleticism of west African dance with Pilobolus-styled or in other words contemporary modern dance partnering. He highlighted that this dance form is not just a celebration of life but also a recognition of the timeless beauty of attraction. In fact, this dance created images from nature, for example plants and animals by mingling dancers into partnering configuration of duets, trios as well as quartets. He emphasized that this dance form highlights the innocence of the sensuality, which is inherent in nature to re-discover the beauty apart from the purity of human sensuality.
Darryl Thomas, who is currently on his maiden visit to India, was enthused to perform with the students of the Sapphire Dance Academy. The dancer cum choreographer displayed three videos to make the assembled audience acquainted with the dance form. Undoubtedly, this project is one of the Sapphire’s initiatives to propagate the popularity of contemporary dance forms. Of course, this special occasion is targeted to present exposure to young artistes from different artistic disciplines.
Precisely, Sapphire’s International Choreographer’s Residency is an initiative to relentlessly be updated in latest techniques, trends apart from interests in the field of contemporary dance across the world. In addition, international choreographers, dancers and teachers are invited to come and work together with the students of the dance school.
Subsequently, Darryl Thomas selected a lady from the audience and taught her a few steps of salsa. The lady, who is actually a trained classical dance teacher, also taught Darryl few steps of the Indian dance forms. Darryl applauded Indian dance form. He remarked that he never knew that the Indian classical dance form had so much in common with the Western dance form. It proved again that dance is an universal art form.
Then, the dancers grooved with Darryl to a circular formation of salsa as well as a visual treat flanked with the dance steps. Moreover, in between the dance presentations, Darryl handed the certificates to the students of the sapphire dance academy, who have been promoted to the higher level of dancing.
However, the evening concluded with the Sapphire dancers presenting “Afro Disiac”. No doubt, the 2nd quarter of the Patton Quarterly Arts Series was thus an evening embellished with unadulterated dance. Additionally, the information on the various dance
forms were enlightening and the dance performances were a real treat for the eyes.