The Afro-Disiac dance by Sapphire Dance Company. Picture by Arnab Mondal

A heady concoction of hula, salsa, hip hop and African dance moves peppered with some rap, personal anecdotes and impromptu dance lessons had the audience at American Center on a high.

Darryl Thomas, the man who dished out the potent cocktail, is a professor of dance at Western Oregon University, in the city for a three-week workshop with Sapphire Dance Company.

The workshop culminated in Afro-Disiac, an evening of contemporary dance that captured a bit of Latin America through an energetic salsa performance, a slice of Hawaii through leisurely hula moves with a pinch of Africa-America in a groovy hip-hop number.

In between matching steps with students, Thomas carried on a conversation with his audience on the history of African dance and how many moves were created from everyday actions. “Africans love drums.... When they could not play drums in America, they started using their hands to beat their bodies to create music. Thus the hambone style of dance was born,” he said.

Thomas told stories of his ancestors, rapped for the audience and also taught them voguing and salsa.

The final dance, after which the programme took its name, invoked nature through some very graceful and sensuous moves. “Since I am performing in India I also infused some mudras of Indian classical dance in the steps,” Thomas told Metro during the rehearsals earlier in the day. Dressed in an orange vest and loose pants, he was busy giving last- minute instructions to the dancers. “Indians have a different approach. They react and use their body in a different way…. I had been interested to work in India for a while and I loved my stint here, smiled Thomas, who has fallen in love with biryani.