Soles of Duende oozes infectious joy

Soles of Duende, features, from left, Brinda Guha, Okai Musik, Ryan Stanbury, Amanda Castro, Arielle Rosales and AJ Jagannath, (Photo by Daryl Padilla)

​If this were a perfect world, it would look like Soles of Duende.
 
This incredible sextet – three dancers and three musicians – oozed joy in a bubbling mix of percussive styles – American tap, flamenco and kathak to music from all the world – demonstrating that differences are not to be feared, but marveled.
 
And indeed this small ensemble’s showing on Friday night at Proctors’ GE Theatre commanded utter ebullience. These artists – tapper Amanda Castro, flamenco dancer Arielle Rosales and kathak dancer Brinda Guha – did not try to fuse their abilities. Rather they respected each other’s artistic space, standing side by side, playing with their styles in a buoyant and easy flow. It wasn’t about overtaking, adapting or assimilating, it was about knowing what the other brought to the floor. And it was beautifully authentic.
 
These open-minded artists were skillfully accompanied by trumpeter and percussionist Ryan Stanbury, who was also music director, drummer Okai Musik and guitarist Andrew “AJ Jagannath.” They played everything Indian, Afro-Caribbean, Latin and jazz music as the dancers hammered out rhythms with their feet.
 
As Guha was bare-footed, her light stamps jingled with her ankle bells, while Castro and Rosales shoes thudded and skidded along the boards.
 
Among the first thing you notice, aside from their differences and steady synchronized sounds, are their hands – Guha’s open and soft as if receiving a gift from a child; Rosales’, curled like a flower about to bloom; and Castro’s, wide and swinging as if she were a pitcher hurling a ball from the mound.
 
The star of this show was hand down Castro. She had more energy and charm than any tapper I have seen. One could see her mind racing as she entered the rhythm circle with everything she had, occasionally striking the floor with a hand, touching her heart or spinning around and around taken by her own intoxication. She, with a killer smile, bewitched all.
 
Rosales was the sophisticated one in the trio – strutting her flair with her velvet skirt, flicking her head in a hard turn and jutting forth her chin in a signal of strength. Her serious demeanor melted when she was joined by Castro or Guha who would give her a cool slap to her hand or a toss her a look that said, “let’s go.”
 
Guha was most lovely. Her style, though often fleet, felt soft and sweet. Though she soothed with gentleness, she was fearless – keeping up with the hard-shoe steppers.
 
Soles of Duende’s passion was so great, it easily transferred to the audience. And when the stage went black at the end, the audience spontaneously stood that instant in a well-deserved standing ovation.
 
Bravo for Soles of Duende.