Rasta Thomas was born on July 18, 1981 in San Francisco, California and raised in Washington, D.C.[1] His parents were both physicians and traveled widely and took their son with them.
In gymnastics, he took private lessons under Jamel Eddin Chaabani, who was the head coach of the Tunisian and Saudi National Olympic Teams.
[citation needed] Although he was enrolled at Kirov in time for the 1996 Varna International Ballet Competition, the school had a policy of only sending dancers sure to win the gold.
So Thomas represented the Seiskaya School of Ballet of New York instead (with whom he was doing guest performances at the time) and Gerald Arpino, Arthur Mitchell and Debbie Allen sponsored him at a cost of $30,000.
[3] At the 1998 USA International Ballet Competition, Thomas won the gold medal, a scholarship, and a cash prize in the senior men's division.
[7][a] Thomas won the gold medal, and at 16 years old became the youngest to win in the senior division, beating Mikhail Baryshnikov's previous record age of 18.
[2][8] Later that year he and three other dancers (including Adrienne Canterna) originated the piece for the tenth season of The Vail International Dance Festival.
[13] Thomas moved to New York City and joined the Dance Theatre of Harlem (under the tutelage of Mitchell) in what would prove to be their final season.
He performed a dance Angelov choreographed to "Flight of the Bumblebee," to rave reviews, including from Valery Gergiev, artistic director of the Kirov Ballet and Opera.
While there, he most notably danced as Swan Lake's Jester, Carmen's bullfighter, and Le jeune homme et la mort's Young Man.
Dance Magazine, in response to his performance, said "A creature of the stage, his presence is magnetic (if lacking nuance), and he relishes all the scrutiny he demands."
NY Critic The New York Times said that the success of the piece can be credited to the "innate good taste and nuanced phrasing that informs Mr. Thomas's spectacular, crystal-clear performance.".
[16] In July 2008, Thomas and 11 other gold-medal winners of previous USAIBC competitions were included in a one-night-only IBC Reunion Gala in Jackson, Mississippi.
In this country you need fame to achieve your career goals to have people listen to your ideas and grant you money so that you can bring your artistic vision to life.
BBD was featured in the documentary “Never Stand Still” with Suzanne Farrell, Paul Taylor, Merce Cunningham, Mark Morris and more narrated by Bill T. Jones.
BBD was invited to be cultural ambassadors for tours and workshops in India and Armenia both in association with the US State Department's, Art in the Embassies Program.
Thomas has one daughter, Anami Halo Ramacandra (meaning "nameless angel of God") and was married to his long time dance partner, Adrienne Canterna.