Ramacandra,American

Rasta Kuzma Ramacandra,or Rasta Thomas as he’s professionally known,has only one connection with India — his name. The 30-year old dancer-performer from Washington DC,whose first-ever performance in India is slated this week,tells a very interesting story about his name. Before Thomas was born,his father was taking a stroll in a park in San Francisco and came across an “Indian religious group”,whose members were distributing free food and brochures. “Inspired by their religion and culture,my father decided to name me as Ramacandra,” said Thomas,adding,“That’s what I was known as,until I began my career as a performer.”

As the founder of the dance company,Bad Boys of Dance,which is based in Takoma Park (Maryland),Thomas — along with his wife Adrienne Canterna — has performed over 200 shows. Their 80-minute routine performance,called Bad Boys of Dance,is a mixture of jazz,hip-hop,ballet and contemporary,and has received critical acclaim all over the world.

Thomas is very excited about his performance here. “I don’t know why we never got a chance to come here till now. When the American Centre offered us the opportunity,we jumped at it,” he said. The group,which are slated to tour seven Indian cities including Chennai,Kolkata and Jaipur,added that they had not tried to “Indianise” their performance in any way. “We’ve kept it exactly as it is and hope the audience here will appreciate it. It feels a little phony to add all the Bollywood stuff without ever having visited India,” added Thomas. Bad Boys of Dance has performed on Broadway,in feature films,and also on TV shows such as Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance.

Bad Boys of Dance will perform on March 3,7 pm,at Siri Fort Auditorium