Carleton’s Regional Carls Program

Basics of Bharatanatyam
an Interactive Lecture & Demonstration

Sunday, December 6, 2020
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. CST

Taught by Ragamala Dance Company Artistic Director and Founder Ranee Ramaswamy P'97 P'03 and featuring Choreographic Associate Ashwini Ramaswamy '03, this interactive lecture-demonstration is designed for young audiences. Follow along with the whole family to learn about the basics of Bharatanatyam—a classical South Indian dance form—and a few introductory steps.

Video introduction and demonstration will be posted on December 6.

Ashwini Ramaswamy '03 is Choreographic Associate of Ragamala Dance Company. Described as “[weaving] together, both fearfully and joyfully, the human and the divine” (The New York Times), she has performed throughout the U.S. and in Russia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Japan, the U.K,. and India. Ashwini's choreography was among the “Best of the Year” in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Big Dance Town, and Minnpost, and she was a 2019 City Pages 'Artist of the Year' for "illuminating Bharatanatyam's future." Her work has been presented by the Joyce Theater (NYC), Triskelion Arts (NYC), Cowles Center (Mpls), The O’Shaughnessy (St. Paul) The Yard (Martha’s Vineyard, MA), and the Just Festival (Edinburgh, U.K.), among others, and is supported by grants and fellowships from the McKnight Foundation, Jerome Foundation, MN State Arts Board, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, USArtists International, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project.

Ragamala Dance Company was founded in 1992 by Ranee Ramaswamy P'97 P'03. Now under the direction of Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy '97 (mother and daughter), the company is in its 28th season of creating intercultural, collaborative performance works that forge together ancestry and continuity. Recently, long-time Ragamala soloist Ashwini Ramaswamy '03 has joined her mother and sister in their intergenerational creative partnership. Ragamala staff members include Erik Madsen-Bond '14, Director of Operations; and Sasha Blinnikova '17, Office Manager and School Coordinator.