Two traditions ‘Speak’ as one
“Speak: Tap & Kathak Unite” is yet another in a growing list of entertaining shows conceived in an it’s-asmall-world spirit of togetherness — one that links kathak, the centuries-old classical dance of India, and tap, the fusion dance form created in America by Africans kidnapped into slavery.
Thanks to a smart concept and some exciting moments, the program running through Saturday at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica is a sunny break from our me-first fractured world.
India’s Hindustani classical music tradition and American jazz were equal partners at the performance Thursday, and the excellent musicianship was one of the best parts of “Speak.” The show updates an earlier kathak-meets-tap program, “India Jazz Suites,” which starred two indisputable masters of their art, Pandit Chitresh Das and Jason Samuels Smith.
“Speak” is rather lopsided. Tap dancers Michelle Dorrance and Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards are thrilling performers, fullbodied and muscular, imaginative with their tapping and extraordinarily nuanced musically. Kathak dancers Rina Mehta and Rachna Nivas were students of Das (who died in 2015) and are dedicated performers. They are not, however, at the same high level as their sister dancers.
While a shortcoming, this imbalance does not torpedo the show. Divided into seven sections, “Speak” is structured so everyone alternates in the spotlight.
The dancers leaned into a spirit of playful competition and cultural comparison. Sumbry-Edwards and Dorrance had a back-and-forth with tabla player Satyaprakash Mishra, each one upping the rhythmic complexity with split-second timing. Throughout the 90-minute show, different aspects of dance techniques were unveiled, as during a duet for Nivas and Mehta when they vocalized, in a scat-like manner, a recitation of the steps they were performing. Nivas and Sumbry-Edwards also met up for a kind of scat battle.
Beginning with a hail storm of tapping, SumbryEdwards executed a lyrical solo to the jazz standard “Tenderly.” Dorrance also had a too-brief moment alone, skittering and sliding in what looked like sheer joy.