Ashwini Ramaswamy
The foundation of Ashwini Ramaswamy’s work and aesthetic begins with decades of dance training with her gurus—her mother, Ranee Ramaswamy, and sister Aparna Ramaswamy (directors of Ragamala Dance Company), and the legendary Smt. Alarmel Valli of Chennai, India. Through that training, she seeks to uphold the balance of technical rigor, physicality, grace, and expressive authenticity that is the hallmark of their Bharatanatyam lineage. The New York Times describes Ashwini as “weaving together, both fearfully and joyfully, the human and the divine…there is a continual flow of energy coursing through her limbs.”
As a founding member of Ragamala Dance Company, Ashwini has toured extensively and performed throughout the U.S. and in Russia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Japan, the U.K, and India. Performance highlights include: The Joyce Theater and Lincoln Center Out of Doors (New York, NY), the Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.), American Dance Festival (Durham, N.C.), Music Center of Los Angeles, the Festival of Arts and Ideas (New Haven, CT), Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Bali Arts Festival, National Centre for Performing Arts (Mumbai, India), and Krishna Gana Sabha (Chennai, India).
As a soloist, Ashwini has performed at the Just Festival (Edinburgh, U.K.), the Ritz Theater and Northrop (Minneapolis, MN), Carleton College (Northfield, MN), the Drive East Festival and Erasing Borders Festival (New York, NY). Her choreographic work has been presented by Augsburg College, the Red Eye Theater, and the Cowles Center (Minneapolis, MN); Triskelion Arts, The Joyce Theater (New York, NY), The Just Festival (Edinburgh, U.K), and The Yard (Martha’s Vineyard).
Ashwini’s projects have been commissioned by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music Series, The American Dance Platform, the Great Northern Festival, and The Cowles Center. She has had residencies at the Baryshnikov Arts Center (NYC), UNC Chapel Hill (North Carolina), and the National Center for Choreography (Akron, OH), and received support from the National Dance Project, the MAP Fund, US Artists International, the Minnesota State Arts Board, Minnesota Regional Arts Council, The South Asian Arts Resiliency Fund, an inaugural Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship, and McKnight Foundation Artist Fellowships for Dance and Choreography. Her choreography has been listed among ”Best of the Year” in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minnpost, City Pages, and Big Dance Town. As a 2019 City Pages ‘Artist of the Year,’ Ashwini’s work was highlighted for ‘illuminating Bharatanatyam’s future.”
