ASHWINI RAMASWAMY

Ashwini Ramaswamy (Co-Creator/Choreographer/Principal Dancer) has spent over 30 years studying Bharatanatyam from award-winning artists Ranee Ramaswamy and Aparna Ramaswamy (her mother and sister), and from their guru, the legendary Padma Bhushan Smt. Alarmél Valli of Chennai, India since 2011. Her choreography has been heralded as a Critic's Pick by The New York Times for “creating space, not just for more generations but more ways of thinking” and listed among the “Best of the Year” in The Washington Post, Boston Globe, Star Tribune, Minnpost, and City Pages. Ashwini is committed to maintaining the rigor, physicality, humanity, and authenticity embedded in her Bharatanatyam lineage while forming a personal vision for collaborative, multidisciplinary performance experiences.

As a founding member of Ragamala Dance Company, she has toured extensively, performing throughout the U.S. and internationally, including The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, American Dance Festival, and the Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi. Her choreographic work has been presented by the Baryshnikov Arts Center (New York, NY), Broadstage (Santa Monica, CA), The Yard (Martha's Vineyard, MA), Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts (Scottsdale, AZ), and The Just Festival (Edinburgh, U.K), among others.

Ashwini has received commissions from the Liquid Music Series, Great Northern Festival, Santa Monica College, Northrop, Perelman Center, JM Kohler Center, and Bates Dance Festival; residencies at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, UNC Chapel Hill, Kohler Arts Center, the National Center for Choreography, the Bogliasco Foundation (Bogliasco, Italy) and Camargo Foundation (Cassis, France); support from the Creative Capital Award, National Dance Project, MAP Fund, USArtists International, National Performance Network, Minnesota State Arts Board, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, South Asian Arts Resiliency Fund, a Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship, McKnight Foundation Artist Fellowships for Dance and Choreography, and a Creative Capital Award.