Jason Samuels Smith

Jason Samuels Smith is a leading contemporary rhythm-tap artist whose work links Black American jazz-tap lineage with improvisation, choreography, film, education and cross-cultural rhythmic dialogue. Born in New York City in 1980, he grew up in a performing-arts family; his mother Sue Samuels and father JoJo Smith were established jazz-dance artists and teachers, and his father's percussion practice gave rhythm a central place in his early environment. Smith trained through Frank Hatchett's professional children's program and appeared on *Sesame Street* while still young.

As a teenager, Smith joined the generation shaped by *Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk*. At fifteen he understudied the production's lead role and absorbed a theatrical language that treated tap as music, history and contemporary Black expression. He later performed with Savion Glover's NYOTs and developed a highly articulated personal style through clubs, festivals, battles and concert work.

In 2003, Smith helped establish the Los Angeles Tap Festival, expanding his role from performer to field-builder. His choreography for the opening number of the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon received the Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography in 2004. He formed A.C.G.I. (Anybody Can Get It), creating concert work with live musicians. His 2009 Jacob's Pillow engagement included *A Song for My Father*, with JoJo Smith among the musicians. Projects such as *Chasing the Bird* and *Charlie's Angels* drew on Charlie Parker's music and featured collaborators including Dormeshia and Chloe Arnold.

One of Smith's most consequential collaborations joined tap with North Indian kathak. In *India Jazz Suites* with Pandit Chitresh Das, the artists met as equal rhythmic intelligences rather than treating one form as decoration for the other. Their exchanges made shared tools—improvisation, foot percussion, subdivision and call-and-response—audible while preserving distinct footwear, technique, history and musical systems. In 2016 Smith co-created and performed *And Still You Must Swing* with Dormeshia and Derick K. Grant, with Camille A. Brown among the collaborators. The work honored Jimmy Slyde's principle of swing and placed tap in live dialogue with jazz musicians.

Smith has also worked in film and television, including *Tap Heat*, *Idlewild* and dance programs, while maintaining teaching and humanitarian initiatives. His recognitions include the Emmy, an American Choreography Award, a Dance Magazine Award, the Gregory Hines Humanitarian Award and a 2026 United States Artists Fellowship.