Five dancers stand wearing traditional Hindu attire. The stage is semi dark with the light coming through the back of the stage and large panels.

HTP Mainstage

Children of Dharma

Ranee & Aparna Ramaswamy’s Ragamala Dance Company

Performances

Mar 21

Performance Run Time: 70 minutes, no intermission.

Ragamala continues to “show how Indian forms can be some of the most transcendent experiences that dance has to offer” (The New York Times).

Creators/mother-daughters Bharatanatyam artists Aparna Ramaswamy, Ranee Ramaswamy, and Ashwini Ramaswamy uphold dance as a spiritual practice that can inspire, heal, and transform. Ragamala Dance Company’s Children of Dharma exemplifies the company’s pioneering work centering ancestral wisdom, artistic excellence, and creativity to contextualize the immigrant experience.

Children of Dharma explores life— forever sprouting, transforming, dissolving, and renewing— through three characters from the Hindu epic The Mahabharata. These myths reveal the power of ancient cultures to reaffirm humanity’s relationship with nature and the sacred, and provoke a visceral response to crises over the ages, from environmental devastation and oppression to unjust wars.

Through lush visual imagery, an original recorded score, and poetic movement that integrates intimate solos with powerful ensemble choreography for the company’s seven dancers, Children of Dharma channels South Indian culture to unearth some of the most enduring questions of conscience facing humanity.

Children of Dharma features scenic and light design by the celebrated visual artist Willy Cessa, renowned for his work with Compagnie C de la B).

“A wholly magnificent piece of live art.” — Chicago Tribune

Ragamala Dance Company
Under the leadership of South Indian American artists Ranee Ramaswamy (Founding Artistic Director), Aparna Ramaswamy (Executive Artistic Director), and Ashwini Ramaswamy (Choreographic Associate), Ragamala Dance Company creates original dance works for the stage. Their intergenerational partnership, profound artistry, and pioneering vision have catalyzed transformative change in the field. Through creating multi-disciplinary dance works, engaging the community, and educating the next generation, Ragamala epitomizes intercultural and immigrant narratives that evoke a shared sense of humanity. Rooted in the South Indian dance form of Bharatanatyam, Ragamala seeks to realize the kindred relationship between ancient and contemporary that is urgently needed in today’s world.

Founded by Ranee Ramaswamy in 1992, Ragamala has toured extensively throughout the U.S., India, and abroad, highlighted by the Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.), Joyce Theater (New York), Lincoln Center (New York), Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (MA), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), American Dance Festival (Durham, NC), Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, International Festival of Arts & Ideas (New Haven, CT), Cal Performances (Berkeley), Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), Just Festival (Edinburgh, U.K.), Bali Arts Festival (Indonesia), Sri Krishna Gana Sabha (Chennai, India), and National Centre for Performing Arts (Mumbai, India), among others.

Several dancers stand in a line on stage ready to perform.

Black and white image where several dancers are lifting each other up.

Harris Theater Presents

Apr 10–12

Twyla Tharp Dance

Twyla Tharp, Third Coast Percussion

Harris Theater Presents

May 2–4

Scott Joplin's Treemonisha — A Musical Reimagining

Volcano

A group of ballerinas performing on stage.

Explore More of the 24/25 Season

Subscribe + Save