Rasta Thomas is the artisic director of his company, Bad Boys of Dance, which premiered at Jacob's Pillow in 2007. The Bad Boys of Dance is a dazzling, high energy, all male company combines the best of ballet, Broadway, Tango and...
[more]Rasta Thomas is the artisic director of his company, Bad Boys of Dance, which premiered at Jacob's Pillow in 2007. The Bad Boys of Dance is a dazzling, high energy, all male company combines the best of ballet, Broadway, Tango and Hip Hop to showcase male virtuosity at its best.
Rasta is also an accomplished classical and contemporary dancer, martial artist, gymnast and director. He spent his young life in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He trained at the Kirov Academy in Washington DC, and considered a prodigy at 12, was featured in the Russian TV special, Stars of the Kirov Ballet.
Among many awards and honors bestowed in his teen years, Rasta was most notably the youngest recipient of the Jury Prize at the Paris International Ballet Competition.
Rasta has appeared with the Kirov Ballet in Russia, The Joffrey Ballet in Chicago, the K–Ballet in Japan, Lar Lubovitch, Complexions and American Ballet Theater in New York, Universal Ballet of Korea, Alonzo King's Lines Contemporary Ballet in San Francisco and the Beijing Central Ballet in China to name a few.
As the subject of a Bravo television documentary in 1997, Rasta Thomas has also appeared on CBS Breakfast with the ARTS and in a featured performance at the 1999 Academy Awards choreographed by the one and only Debbie Allen of Fame. Rasta has also appeared in Ms. Allen's musicals Pepito's Story, Soul Possessed and Pearl as well as in Patrick Swayze's film One Last Dance.
In 2000, Rasta Thomas headlined, directed and produced a full evening of dance in Japan which was nationally televised and received critical acclaim. In that same year he was featured in an international GAP advertisement. In 2005 Rasta made his Broadway debut in the lead role of Eddie in the Twyla Tharp/Bill Joel hit musical Movin Out. He continued to perform the role on the National and Japanese Tour through the 2006-2007 season.
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