“Aparna Ramaswamy is a vision of sculptural lucidity whose dancing brings a full-bodied awareness to complex rhythms and shifts of dynamics”
— Gia Kourlas, The New York Times

Ananta describes the eternal relationship between the deity and the devotee. The experience of beholding the image of a deity with one’s own eyes is a central act of worship and charged with meaning—it is reciprocal and electric. The sacred is present in this auspicious moment; through the meeting of the eyes, one gains the grace of the divine.

Trailer

Ananta, The Eternal is created with special commissioning funds from The Mayer Family and a grant from the Fredrikson & Byron Foundation, and is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
“ A beautiful, meditative piece... its transportive qualities fulfilled my desire for immersive art in a way that I have been desperately missing”
— Broadway World

Fires of Varanasi is an immersive ritual for the stage where time is suspended and humans merge with the divine. Ranee Ramaswamy and Aparna Ramaswamy imagine a metaphorical crossing place that enters into the world of immortality, expanding upon the birth-death-rebirth continuum in Hindu thought to honor immigrant experiences of life and death in the diaspora. For them, the transformation of the soul after cremation becomes a powerful symbol for human resilience and the tenacity of people and cultures across time.

The creation and U.S. touring of Fires of Varanasi is made possible in part through grants from the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional creation support from the Marbrook Foundation; the MAP Fund, supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; The Dr. Dash Foundation, whose mission is to preserve and promote rich Indian heritage and culture; New Music USA, made possible by annual program support and/or endowment gifts from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, Baisley Powell Elebash Fund, & The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation; the Fredrikson & Byron Foundation; the APAP Cultural Exchange Fund; Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy's 2018 Guggenheim Fellowships; Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy’s 2020 McKnight Fellowship, and Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy’s 2017 residential fellowship at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center in Italy.
“Aparna Ramaswamy is a dancer of high clarity and precision…when she appeared in the form of the dancing God Shiva, she gave me the shivers”
— The New York Times

This intimate ritual for the stage features solos by mother/daughter performers Ranee Ramaswamy, Aparna Ramaswamy, and Ashwini Ramaswamy - as they honor the memory of their ancestors - in contrast with the ceremonial movements and sacred unison of the company. The dancers are seekers engrossed in rituals of sacred contemplation that become an ecstatic prayer celebrating the inevitable dissolution of life.

Avimukta: Where the Seeker Meets the Sacred was developed in part during a technical residency at The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts. The creation of Avimukta was made possible in part through support from the The Bob and Kathie Goodale Legacy Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy's 2018 Guggenheim Fellowships, Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy’s 2020 McKnight Fellowship, and the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
“Visually opulent and filled with zest”
— The Hindu

Sacred Earth explores the interconnectedness between human emotions and the environment that shapes them. Performed with live music, the dancers create a sacred space to honor the divinity in the natural world and the sustenance we derive from it. Inspired by the philosophies behind the ephemeral arts of kolam and Warli painting and the Tamil Sangam literature of India, Sacred Earth is Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy’s singular vision of the beautiful, fragile relationship between nature and man.

 
The creation of Sacred Earth was made possible in part with funds from the National Dance Project and the National Endowment for the Arts.