Ragamala Music & Dance Theater

Ragamala Dance Company (RDC) was founded in 1992 by Ranee Ramaswamy, and is under the leadership of Artistic Directors Ranee Ramaswamy and Aparna Ramaswamy, and Choreographic Associate Ashwini Ramaswamy (mother and daughters). Rooted in the South Indian dance form of Bharatanatyam, the company has been hailed by The New York Times as "soulful, imaginative, and rhythmically contagious."

Presented as part of Ragamala Rooted: Fires of Varanasi, in partnership with the Northrop. A virtual panel featuring faith leaders from differing traditions on honoring those who have passed. Cultivating Creativity: Ranee, Aparna, and Ashwini Ramaswamy on Arts and Cultural Leadership. Ranee, Aparna, and Ashwini Ramaswamy provide vital insights for the next generation of leaders in Minnesota's arts and culture sector.

Ragamala can create personalized digital programming for your virtual season. Educational sessions, live-streamed demonstrations, participatory dance classes, lectures on cultural hybridity/the South Asian experience, and pre-recorded performances with introductions by the artists are a few examples of the digital content we can provide for your audiences and classrooms.

At the Ragamala Training Center, students receive classical training in the style of Bharatanatyam carefully created by the internationally renowned Padma Bhushan Alarmel Valli, considered to be one of India's greatest living masters.

This style is distinguished by its technical perfection and grace, and Artistic Directors Ranee Ramaswamy and Aparna Ramaswamy are dedicated to preserving and carrying on their guru's tradition and passing it on to the next generation of dancers.Ragamala classes provide students with rigorous training while giving them an opportunity to learn about, preserve, and immerse themselves in the arts and culture of India.

As mother and daughter choreographers, Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy explore the myth and spirituality of their Indian heritage through the lens of their experience as immigrants living within two cultures. Ragamala Dance Company is driven to share their vision of Bharatanatyam as a dynamic, living art form with audiences across boundaries of language, culture, and faith.