Ballet superstar, gold medalist, and Broadway star of Billy Joel/Twyla Tharp’s Movin Out, Rasta Thomas founded the Bad Boys of Dance (BBD) in 2007 as a vehicle to push the boundaries of male dancing. BBD is a virtuoso troupe of some of the world’s best male dancers, hand-picked for their extraordinary physical talents and artistry. Taking the world by storm, touring Europe, Asia, and the U.S., BBD makes its Dance Celebration debut with a program fusing ballet, broadway, hip hop, contemporary, and tap. The Boston Globe exclaims, “These Bad Boys are really very, very good.”

BBD charms older audiences and attracts young audiences by its jaw-dropping pyrotechnics featuring multiple pirouettes, soaring leaps, 180 degree extensions, capoeira kicks, one-handed inversions, flamboyant acrobatic flips, and flares. Each performer has a style, attitude, and aura similar to a punk rock band member or MTV star. From Mohawks to shaved heads to top hats to jeans, BBD aims to bring concert dance into the 21st century. Music ranges from Astor Piazzolla to Benny Goodman, Maria Callas to Michael Jackson, and choreography by Rasta Thomas, Adrienne Canterna-Thomas (his wife and ballet gold medalist), invited guests and company members.

Rasta Thomas confides, “I was a bad boy early on for not sticking to the traditional path and working my way up from apprentice to corps to soloist and principal.” Born in San Francisco, raised in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Rasta trained as a youngster in Martial Arts and studied at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, DC. He has appeared as a guest artist for American Ballet Theater, Victor Ullate Ballet of Spain, National Ballet of China, Joffrey Ballet, Lines Contemporary Ballet, Complexions, Lar Lubovitch Dance Company and the Pacific Northwest Ballet. In 2001, (at the age of 20) he was the first American to become a member of the Kirov Ballet in St. Petersburg Russia. Entertainment Tonight sums up this dance phenomena by stating “What would you get if you took the best of Baryshnikov, Bruce Lee and Michael Jackson? It would be Rasta Thomas.”

Dance Celebration
presented by Dance Affiliates & Penn Presents
Bad Boys of Dance
April 15-17, 2010
at Zellerbach Theatre, Annenberg Center For The Performing Arts
3680 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Information and tickets: http://www.annenbergcenter.org/tickets/?id=70