In this month’s issue, we got to know the women of Ragamala Dance Company in Minneapolis: Ranee, Aparna and Ashwini Ramaswamy. The mother/daughter team shared their remarkable path to becoming bharata natyam dancers, choreographers and leaders of a thriving company in Minneapolis. Now, the Ragamala dynasty has some exciting performances coming their way.
Aparna Ramaswamy
On March 31 and April 2, Ashwini will premiere her first evening-length work, Nocturne, at Triskelion Arts in Brooklyn, NY. Describing the piece, she says, “In this imagined realm the creatures of the daytime represent going with the current, or with society’s norms, and night provides the space for originality, for being authentic and creatively unrestricted.” Nocturne will be staged later in the year at The Red Eye Theater in Minneapolis, June 2–5.
Ashwini Ramaswamy
Ranee and Aparna will premiere their work, Written in Water, at Florida State University in Tallahassee in October. Inspired in part by the Indian board game that Snakes and Ladders is based on, Written in Water will be danced on top of a rendering of the game board projected onto the floor.
Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy standing on a projection of a Snakes and Ladders game board
For more info about upcoming Ragamala events, visit: ragamaladance.org.
Photos from top: by Christopher Pike; by Amanulla; all courtesy of Ragamala Dance Company
