Rasta Thomas

Rasta Kuzma Ramacandra (born July 18, 1981), known professionally as Rasta Thomas, is an American dancer, choreographer, and founder of the dance company Bad Boys of Dance.

Early life Rasta Thomas was born in San Francisco, California, and raised in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. His parents were physicians whose frequent travel, according to Thomas in a 1998 interview with The Christian Science Monitor, led him to be "more open-minded about movement and about what people have to offer."

At age two, Thomas underwent physical therapy following a leg injury sustained in a vehicle accident. He began taekwondo lessons at age three.

Career At age 12, Thomas trained at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, D.C. During this time, his training and performance were sponsored by Gerald Arpino, Arthur Mitchell, and Debbie Allen. In 1994, he received the Jury Prize at the Paris International Dance Competition, becoming the youngest recipient in the competition's history. In 1995, he joined Le Jeune Ballet de France He won the gold medal, becoming the youngest dancer to do so in that division.

Thomas moved to Los Angeles to pursue commercial work, which included a GAP ad and a performance in the 1999 Academy Awards choreographed by Debbie Allen. Thomas also conceived and directed Homage: A Tribute to Families With AIDS, a benefit performance for Self-Help Community Services and its Family Home Care program.

Thomas moved to New York City and joined the Dance Theatre of Harlem under the direction of Arthur Mitchell.

Thomas later performed as a guest artist with the American Ballet Theatre in Lar Lubovitch's production of Othello. In 2005, he performed a solo in the U.S. debut of Lubovitch’s Elemental Brubeck. That same year, he made his Broadway debut in the lead role of Eddie in the musical Movin' Out, later joining the productions' touring company.

In 2007, Thomas founded the dance company Bad Boys of Dance (BBD), which debuted at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in July of that year. Reviewing an early performance for The New York Times, Jennifer Dunning called it "the dance equivalent of a water-bomb gang," nothing Thomas's "theatrical intelligence" and describing the performers as a group of friends "with individual presences" A review in The Guardian characterised the production as having "a touch of classical class."

Personal life Thomas has one daughter from his marriage to his former dance partner, Adrienne Canterna.