Carleton College Brings World-Renowned Ragamala Dance Company to Northfield for Series of Public Events

Carleton College is pleased to host the world-renowned Ragamala Dance Company for a three-week residency focused on bringing the arts and culture of south Indian to residents of Northfield. Carleton students, along with Ragamala Dance Company members, will collaborate with the Northfield School of Arts and Technology (ARTech) to teach an appreciation for south Asian cultural art forms. Along with a series of public lectures, workshops and demonstrations, the residency concludes with a free public performance of Sthree, a contemporary interpretation of the south Indian epic “Silappathikaram,” by the Ragamala Dance Company on Wednesday, May 18, at 7 p.m. in the Skinner Memorial Chapel.

The residency includes a series of free public events. On Wednesday, April 27 at 6:30 p.m., the Ragamala Dance Company will present a lecture and demonstration entitled “Bharatanatyam, the Classical Dance of Southern India” in the Severance Great Hall, located off College Street on the Carleton campus.

On Tuesday, May 10 at 6:30 p.m., members of the Ragamala Dance Company will host a Bharatanatyam master class in the Carleton College Cowling Gym (located off First and Maple Streets). This class is open to the community but space is limited; reservations can be made by emailing ssippy@carleton.edu.

On Wednesday, May 18 at 7 p.m., the Ragamala Dance Company concludes their residency at Carleton College with a special presentation of Sthree, inspired by the first-century Tamil epic “Silappathikaram” (The Anklet) and accompanied by English narration, in the Skinner Memorial Chapel, located on First Street between College and Winona Streets in Northfield. A post-performance discussion and reception follows.

Sthree brings to audiences the dramatic story of “The Anklet” and its conflict of characters and situations that are relevant even today. Sthree’s complex choreography, brilliant costuming, and evocative south Indian classical score will transport the audience to the splendor of India’s Sangam Period—an era of great cultural renaissance when art, literature, music and drama flourished, and which boasted an unparalleled religious tolerance. Sthree is written, directed, and narrated by master storyteller Zaraawar Mistry and set to an original score by virtuoso vocalist Prema Ramamurthy and Dr. L. Subramaniam, one of India’s greatest violinists and composers.

Told by a chorus of seven women dancers, Sthree draws from the exquisite tradition of Bharatanatyam, the classical dance form of southern India. Integrating elements of music, theater, poetry, sculpture, and literature, Bharatanatyam is part of a dynamic living tradition that offers an infinite scope for understanding and exploring the mind, body, and spirit. Bharatanantyam is comprised of two distinct components: ntritta, or abstract dance, utilizing a vocabulary of classical steps to create complex rhythmic patterns; and nritya, or expressive dance, utilizing the language of gesture, called abhinaya, to express various themes from Hindu mythology, usually those of love and devotion.

Founded in 1992 and based in Minneapolis, the Ragamala Dance Company seamlessly carries the south Indian dance form of Bharatanatyam into the 21st century. While deeply rooted in this classical tradition, Ragamala’s artistic directors Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy integrate innovative ideas and collaborations into their choreography to convey that Bharatanatyam is contemporary and distinctly current. Ragamala’s original approach and dynamic artistry have inspired numerous collaborative partnerships around the globe. Dance Magazine calls Ragamala “both iconic and explosive…infusing the formal rigor of Bharatanatyam with fluid spontaneity and rock star allure” and The New York Times declares, “This is an excellent company.”

Ragamala’s visionary work has brought the company to many prestigious venues around the world, including the Miao-Li International Mask Festival (Miao-Li, Taiwan), the Open Look Contemporary Dance Festival (St. Petersburg, Russia), the Bali Arts Festival (Bali, Indonesia), the Nagoya Kita Bunka Shogekijyo (Ida City, Japan), the Festival of Spirituality and Peace (Edinburgh, Scotland), the New Victory Theater (New York), the Soorya Festival (Kerala, India), and the Maximum India Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Ranee Ramaswamy (founder/artistic director/choreographer/principal dancer) has been a master teacher and performer of Bharatanatyam in the United States since 1978. She is the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships; her work is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Minnesota State Arts Board, The National Dance Project, and the Japan Foundation. Her work has been commissioned by the Zenon Dance Company, the University of Minnesota’s Interplay Series, composer Jan Gilbert, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

Aparna Ramaswamy (artistic director/choreographer/principal dancer) was born in India and raised in the United States. Ranee Ramaswamy’s daughter, she is also a member of the Carleton College Class of 1997. Described as “a marvel of buoyant agility and sculptural clarity” (Dance Magazine), she has been awarded multiple honors, including fellowships from the McKnight, Bush, Rockefeller and Jerome Foundations; the National Endowment for the Arts; the National Dance Project; the Japan Foundation; and the Minnesota State Arts Board. Most recently she became the first Bharatanatyam artist to be named one of “25 to Watch” by Dance Magazine.

These events are made possible thanks to funding from a Minnesota State Arts Grant. The Ragamala Dance Company residency is also supported by the Carleton College Department of Religion, the Department of Asian Studies, the Office of Campus Activities, the Gender and Sexuality Center, the Department of History’s Lefler Lecture series, the Human Sexuality Endowment, the Office of Intercultural Life, Studies in Arts, the Department of Theater and Dance, and the Viz (Visualizing Liberal Arts) Initiative, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

For more information about The Ragamala Dance Company, visit their website at www.ragamala.net. For more information of the Ragamala Dance Company’s residency at Carleton College, including disability accommodations, contact Shana Sippy, visiting professor in religion, at (507) 222-4228 or ssippy@carleton.edu.