Happy Jason Samuels Smith Day!

April 22, 2014

Ten years ago, the city of Shreveport, Louisiana, declared April 23 “Jason Samuels Smith Day.” (It’s also the 10th anniversary of Dance Spirit‘s May/June 2004 cover with none other than the hoofer himself.)

To get the celebrations started, here are a few videos of the tap master working his magic.

We’ll begin with a clip that you may be familiar with already—it’s his jaw-dropping performance on “So You Think You Can Dance” Season 3:

Next, take a look at this clip from a MOVEtheWORLD charity event in 2013:

Back in 2004, Samuels Smith first met classical Indian dance guru Pandit Chitresh Das at American Dance Festival. They’ve been working together over the last ten years (another 10th anniversary!), and in the last few, have collaborated on a performance series called “India Jazz Suite” which blends their two forms—Kathak and rhythm tap. (A film released in 2011, Upaj:Improvise, documents the tour.) Here’s a clip of a recent performance at Lincoln Center this past January:

Tap in Sweden? Yaa, you betcha. Here’s a clip from the Stockholm Tap Festival last summer:

Happy tapping!