Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy

Nadine B. Andreas Artists in Residence

The Department of Theatre & Dance, through the generosity of David and Lowell Andreas in honor of their wife and mother, will host the following Artists in Residence during spring semester 2008. Most will include a public master class or public performance:

Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy

(East Indian)
Ranee has been teaching and performing Bharatanatyam in the Twin Cities since 1978. She has had the good fortune to train under Alarmel Valli, a leading exponent of the Pandanallur style of Bharatanatyam, which requires grace and subtlety of expression. Ranee has received many grants and fellowships in recognition of her choreography, performance and tireless work with Bharatanatyam in the Minnesota area, including numerous McKnight Artist Fellowships and a Bush Fellowship for Choreography.

Aparna Ramaswamy goes through some traditional movements with students in the World Dance class. Although serious students often don't move on to arm movements until they've studied the steps for 1.5 to 2 years, for the class they proceeded to them in a matter of minutes.

Aparna (left) works with a student on proper arm placement; Ranee (right) talks about the theory.

 

Photos by Mike Lagerquist