INTERVIEW: Ragamala Dance Company to stage ‘Fires of Varanasi’ in NYC
Photo: The Ragamala Dance Company features choreographic associate and dancer Ashwini Ramaswamy. Photo courtesy of David Johnston / Provided by Michelle Tabnick PR with permission.
Ashwini Ramaswamy is the choreographic associate and dancer with Ragamala Dance Company, which is set to begin performances tonight, Sept. 22 at the Joyce Theater in New York City. Their weeklong residency continues through Sunday, Sept. 26.
The dance troupe plans to bring their evening-length work, Fires of Varanasi: Dance of the Eternal Pilgrim, to New York City audiences. According to press notes, the dance, created by co-artistic directors Ranee Ramaswamy and Aparna Ramaswamy, imagines a metaphorical crossing place that evokes the birth-death-rebirth continuum found in the Hindu religion.
For the Ragamala Dance Company, performing and choreography are a family affair. Ranee is the mother of Ashwini and Aparna, and all three share a great deal of creative control over the direction and artistry of the company. They have had a busy fall season, premiering Fires of Varanasi earlier this month at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and after the New York engagement, they head to theaters in Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Illinois and beyond. At some of these later engagements, Ragamala will bring to life Ashwini’s Let the Crows Come.
Ashwini studied dance with her mother and sister, in addition to Smt. Alarmel Valli of Chennai, India, according to her official biography. She has performed extensively around the world, including in the United States, Russia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Japan and everywhere in between.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Ashwini about the performances at the Joyce. For newcomers to the Ragamala Dance Company, the troupe brings to life the Bharatanatyam dance form of South India, and more information on this creative art is described below. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What can audience members expect from your performances this week at the Joyce? Do you feel that Fires of Varanasi can be transportive for the audience?
Live performance has the capacity — and in many ways a responsibility — to be transportive and invoke a shared humanity. In Fires of Varanasi, we celebrate Hindu traditions of spiritual and physical transcendence to acknowledge the sacred in everything around us. We hope to give audiences (as individuals and as a community) the opportunity to internalize our exuberance and joy.
Does it feel good to be back in front of a live crowd again?
It is an incredible feeling to sense the energy of an audience, which then feeds into the energy of the performance. We do this so we can impact and move people, and we have missed that immensely. Even though digital arts experiences helped us stay connected, live performance is a singular experience.
Have the last two years been difficult for the company?
Of course, the last two years have been unfathomably hard for everyone, and artists were deeply impacted. We were able to be resourceful and use that time to really hone this work, and our creative practice, as a family. As a mother and two daughters, we spent countless hours practicing/creating in the studio as well as researching the many sources (mythology, poetry, rituals, songs, sacred texts, etc.) that inform Fires of Varanasi.
How would you describe the South Indian dance form Bharatanatyam to someone who has never experienced the art?
Bharatanatyam is the externalization of internal emotions, philosophies and thoughts. The dancer must become completely absorbed in his or her dancing to make a meaningful connection with the audience. It is always our intention and hope that the performance will make that emotional impact on the viewer. When a newcomer comes to see us, we hope that they experience the visceral emotions and universality of the art form. What we do is ancient in origin but not in content — we present work that explores the kindred relationship between ancient and contemporary within today’s world.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Ragamala Dance Company will present Fires of Varanasi: Dance of the Eternal Pilgrim Sept. 22-26 at the Joyce in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets.
