Dance as storytelling: Excerpts from Fires of Varanasi | Ragamala Dance Company | TEDxMinneapolis

Ragamala Dance Company's Co-Artistic Directors Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy and Choreographic Associate Ashwini Ramaswamy (mother and daughters) draw from the artistic traditions and spirituality of their South Indian heritage. Their dance works contemplate how humans receive, interpret, codify, preserve, and re-create culture, and their intergenerational practice serves as a dialogue about the contemporary human experience. In this Talk, the Ramaswamys each perform a solo from Ragamala's production Fires of Varanasi, which evokes an elaborate ritual where time is suspended and humans merge with the divine. Through images that reflect the cosmic trinity of Varanasi, India—sacred pilgrimage routes, the Ganges River, and the patron deity Shiva—the creators imagine a metaphorical crossing place. Concept and Choreography: Ranee Ramaswamy and Aparna Ramaswamy; Choreographic Assistant: Ashwini Ramaswamy; Original Compositions: Prema Ramamurthy; Development of Score: Ranee Ramaswamy and Aparna Ramaswamy, with the musical ensemble. Filmed September 12th, 2020 at the TEKBox at The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts in Minneapolis. Ragamala Dance Company was founded in 1992 by Ranee Ramaswamy. Under the direction of Artistic Directors Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy and Choreographic Associate Ashwini Ramaswamy (mother and daughters), the company’s work is rooted in the South Indian dance form of Bharatanatyam. Hailed by The New York Times as “soulful, imaginative, and rhythmically contagious,” Ragamala is in its 28th season of creating intercultural, collaborative performances that forge together ancestry and continuity. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx