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Saturday, December 2, 2017, 8pmSunday, December 3, 2017, 3pm

Zellerbach Playhouse

Ragamala Dance CompanyWritten in Water

Ranee Ramaswamy and Aparna Ramaswamy, artistic directors

Ranee Ramaswamy and Aparna Ramaswamy, concept and choreography

Ashwini Ramaswamy, choreographic associate

Amir ElSaffar and Prema Ramamurthy, musical composition

Development of the Musical Score:Amir ElSaffar, Aparna Ramaswamy, and Ranee Ramaswamy, with the musical ensemble

Visual Art:Original paintings by Keshav

Additional artwork by Nathan ChristopherHistorical image provided by the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge

Dancers:Aparna Ramaswamy, Ranee Ramaswamy, Ashwini Ramaswamy, Tamara Nadel, Jessica Fiala

Musical Ensemble:Amir ElSaffar, trumpet, santur, and vocal; Preethy Mahesh, vocal;

Rohan Krishnamurthy, mridangam; Arun Ramamurthy, violin; Kasi Aysola, nattuvangam

Jeff Bartlett, lighting design

Maury Jensen, sound engineer

Mat Terwilliger, lighting supervisor and production manager

Rob Simmer, video director

Commissioned by the Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi (lead commissioner and developmental partner)and Opening Nights Performing Arts at Florida State University, Tallahassee.

Created in residence at the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography (MANCC) at Florida State University, Tallahassee; the Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi;

an NPN residency at The Yard in Martha’s Vineyard, MA; and the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts in Minneapolis, MN.

Special thanks to Dr. Vasudha Narayanan at the University of Florida; Dr. Mark Elliott, senior curator at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

at the University of Cambridge; and Dr. Savitri Puram (bhakthadasi.blogspot.com).

Cal Performances’ 2017–18 season is sponsored by Wells Fargo.

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From the ChoreographersIn Written in Water, we explore the concept ofspiritual ascension through the second-centuryIndian board game Paramapadam (a precursorto Snakes & Ladders), the 12th-century Sufi textThe Conference of the Birds, and the Hindumyth ological story Ksheerabthi Madanam, thechurning of the seven seas.

We have drawn upon The Conference of theBirds to frame the arc of Written in Water. Theprotagonists of this Sufi epic progress throughseven valleys, representing states of being. WithWritten in Water, we mirror their journeythrough a world of psychological complexity,traversing experiences of spiritual longing,human love, unity with others, detachmentfrom material life, and, finally, ultimate onenesswith the divine.

In the first movement of Written in Water, we experience human life, love, and struggle,explored through the framework of the boardgame Paramapadam. The game board serves as a physical and metaphorical frameworkthrough which the seekers/dancers navigatesnakes and ladders representing the heights ofecstasy and the depths of longing. 

In the second movement, we explore the hu man quest for the divine. The mythologicalstory of Ksheerabthi Madanam is a metaphorfor a world in chaos. Amid this dynamic ten-sion between good and evil, Vishnu stands forthe perfect center toward which humans strive. 

In the final movement, we journey towardtranscendence—toward unmediated unionwith the divine. 

In developing Written in Water, we played the game hundreds of times, using the floor as the board and our bodies as the gamepieces. The projected images are from originalpaintings by Chennai-based visual artist Keshav,specially commissioned by Ragamala for thiswork. Written in Water was developed throughan ongoing collaboration in which choreogra-phy, music, and visual art were constructed si-multaneously in a constant artistic dialogue thatspanned two years.

—Ranee Ramaswamy and Aparna Ramaswamy

Ragamala Dance Company was founded in1992 by Ranee Ramaswamy. Now in its 25thseason under the direction of Ranee Rama -swamy and Aparna Ramaswamy (mother anddaughter), Ragamala creates work that conveysa sense of reverence, of unfolding mystery, ofuniversal celebration.

Ragamala has been hailed by the New YorkTimes as, “soulful, imaginative and rhythmicallycontagious.” The company has toured exten -sively, highlighted by performances at the Ken -nedy Center (Washington, DC), Joyce Theaterand Lincoln Center (New York City), WalkerArt Center (Minneapolis), American DanceFes tival (Durham, NC), Museum of Con tem -porary Art Chicago, International Festival ofArts & Ideas (New Haven, CT), Arts Center atNYU Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), JustFestival (Edinburgh, UK), Bali Arts Festival(Indonesia), Sri Krishna Gana Sabha (Chennai,India), and National Centre for PerformingArts (Mumbai, India).

Ranee Ramaswamy and Aparna Ramaswamyare artistic directors, choreographers, and prin-cipal dancers of Ragamala Dance Company,which was founded by Ranee in 1992. As dance- makers and performers, they explore the dy-namic tension between the ancestral and thecontemporary, making dance landscapes thatdwell in opposition—secular and spiritual life,inner and outer worlds, the human and the nat-ural, rhythm and stillness—to find the tran-scendence that lies in between. As mother anddaughter, each brings her generational experi-ence to the work—the rich traditions, deepphil osophical roots, and ancestral wisdom ofIndia meeting and merging with their hybridicperspectives as Indian-American artists. As pro-teges and senior disciples of legendary dancer/choreographer Alarmél Valli—renowned as oneof India’s greatest living masters—Ranee andAparna trained in the South Indian classicaldance form of Bharatanatyam, which is thebedrock of their creative aesthetic.

Ranee and Aparna’s work is supported by theNational Endowment for the Arts, NationalDance Project, MAP Fund, The McKnight

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Foun dation, the Doris Duke Charitable Foun -dation, New Music/USA, USArtists Interna -tional, and the Japan Foundation, and has beencommissioned by the Walker Art Center (Min -neapolis), Lincoln Center Out of Doors (NewYork), Krannert Center (University of Illinois),Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (Uni -versity of Maryland), Opening Nights Per for -ming Arts (Florida State University), and ArtsCenter at NYU Abu Dhabi (UAE), and theyhave developed work in residence at the MaggieAllesee National Center for Chore ography andan NPN residency at The Yard. Most recently,Ranee and Aparna were selected as ResearchFellows by the Rockefeller Foundation BellagioCenter (Italy). 

Ranee currently serves on the NationalCoun cil on the Arts, appointed by PresidentBarack Obama. She is recipient of a 2014 DorisDuke Performing Artist Award, a 2012 UnitedStates Artists Fellowship, a 2011 McKnightDis tin guished Artist Award, a Bush Fellowshipfor Choreography, and 14 McKnight ArtistFellow ships for Choreography and Interdisci -plinary Art.

Aparna is recipient of a 2016 Doris DukePerforming Artist Award and a 2016 JoyceAward. Described by the New York Times as“thrillingly three-dimensional… rapturous andprofound,” she has received three McKnightArtist Fellowships for Dance and Choreographyand a Bush Fellowship for Choreography, andwas selected as one of Dance Magazine’s “25 toWatch” for 2010. Her solo work, presented withlive music, has toured the US and India withsupport from the National Dance Project andUSArtists International. Aparna is an empan-eled artist with the Indian Council for CulturalRelations and serves on the board of trustees ofDance/USA.

Amir ElSaffar (composer, trumpet, santur, ma -qam vocal) has distinguished himself with amas tery of diverse musical traditions and a sin-gular approach to combining Middle Easternmusical languages with jazz and other styles ofcontemporary music. A recipient of the 2013Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, ElSaffar

has been described as “uniquely poised to rec-oncile jazz and Arabic music without doing ei-ther harm” (The Wire) and “one of the mostpromising figures in jazz today”  (ChicagoTribune). He currently leads several critically acclaimed ensembles: Two Rivers, which com-bines the musical languages and instru men ta-tion of Iraqi maqam and contemporary jazz;the  Amir ElSaffar Quintet, performing El -Saffar’s microtonal compositions with standardjazz instrumentation; Safaafir, the only ensem-ble in the US performing and preserving theIraqi maqam in its traditional format; the Al -wan Ensemble, the resident ensemble of Al wanfor the Arts, specializing in classical music fromEgypt, the Levant, and Iraq; and his new estproject, the Rivers of Sound ensemble, featuring17 musicians from a broad spectrum of tradi-tions ranging from maqam to American jazz.In addition, he has worked with jazz legendCecil Taylor and prominent jazz musicians suchas Mark Dresser, Gerry Hemingway, MarcRibot, Henry Grimes, and Oliver Lake. ElSaffarhas appeared on numerous recordings, and hasreleased six under his own name, Maqams ofBaghdad (2005), Two Rivers (2007), Radif Suite(2010), Inana (2011), Alchemy (2013), and Cri -sis (2015). For more information, please visitwww.amirelsaffar.com.

Prema Ramamurthy (composer) has been a respected vocalist and composer for more thanfour decades. She was initiated into music byher parents, the late Sri S. Nagaraja Iyer andSmt. Jayalakshmi, and her grandfather, Sri S.Srinivasa Iyer. Ramamurthy has had further in-tensive training under the great Maestro “Pad -ma vibhushan” Dr. Mangalampalli BalamuraliKrishna. She has also trained in pallavi singingwith Vidwan Sri T. V. Gopala krishnan, andlearned the art of singing padams and ja valisfrom the veteran musician Mrs. T. Muk tha.Rama murthy is an A-TOP Grade Artist of AllIndia Radio and Doordarshan Television. Shehas won critical acclaim as a composer, and hasperformed in many of the top venues and festi-vals in India, the US, Europe, Asia, the MiddleEast, Australia, Mexico, and South Africa.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

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Keshav has had a passion for drawing sincechild hood, but does not have formal training inart. He learned from museums and art books,and was influenced by the Renaissance mastersand the Impressionists. After seeing the workof the Indian master Ravi Varma, his interestturned toward Indian art. In 1983 he begancon tributing his drawings to Ananda Vikatan—a magazine that was a guiding light for allartists/cartoonists in South India—and sketch-ing musicians at the Music Aca demy in Chen -nai. In 1987 he began contributing cartoons tothe national newspaper The Hindu. He eventu-ally joined the staff at The Hindu as cartoonist,where he has remained for more than 28 years.Meanwhile, Keshav continued with his passionfor the arts. His quest in Indian art led him todiscover the treasures in temples and the sym-bolism used in the Indian epics, and he startedto see Indian art and what it communicates ina new light. This led him into the world ofKrishna. Keshav began a journey into symbols,fascinated with the ways abstract ideas could becommunicated through simple meta phors thathave stood the test of time. In 2006 his one-manshow, Krishna Leela, was presented in Chennai,and later in Bangalore. Keshav paints in oil, wa-tercolors, acrylics, charcoals, and pastels. Forthe past several years he has been painting oneKrishna a day (#krishnafortoday) and sharing itin his blog and social media postings. Keshavhas a master’s degree in commerce fromMadras University. “Car toon ing is my profes-sion, painting is my passion.” For more infor-mation, visit www.kamadenu.blogspot.com.

Ashwini Ramaswamy (choreographic associate,dancer) has studied Bharatanatyam with Raneeand Aparna Ramaswamy—her mother and sister—since the age of five. She now has thehonor of studying under Bharatanatyam legendAlarmél Valli. The New York Times describesAshwini as  “imbuing her refined, sculpturalmuscularity with a tranquility that contrastswith the springy exuberance of her feet… thereis a continual flow of energy coursing throughher limbs.” Ashwini has toured extensively withRagamala, performing throughout the US andin Russia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Japan, the UK,

UAE, and India. She is a McKnight Artist Fel -low for Dance, and the recipient of grants fromthe Minnesota State Arts Board, USArtists In -ter national, Metropolitan Regional Arts Coun -cil, and the Jerome Foundation. Ashwini’schoreographic work has been presented byAugsburg College, Ritz Theater, and Red EyeTheater (Minneapolis, MN), and TriskelionArts (Brooklyn, NY). Her most recent project,Kirana, co-created with Ranee and AparnaRama swamy, was presented at the Joyce Thea -ter (NY) in 2017. She is currently collaboratingwith Ranee and Aparna on their forthcomingBody, the Shrine. Ashwini is the St. Paul Cham berOrchestra’s Liquid Music Series’ artist-in-virtual-residence this season; that ensemble has com-missioned a work from her, to be premiered in2019. She is also Ragamala’s director of publicityand marketing, and holds a degree in Englishliterature from Carleton College. Ash wini cur-rently serves on the board of Arts Midwest.

Tamara Nadel (dancer) is a disciple of Raneeand Aparna Ramaswamy and a founding mem-ber of Ragamala. She has toured extensivelywith the company, highlighted by performancesat Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Ameri -can Dance Festival, Museum of ContemporaryArt Chicago, NYU Abu Dhabi (UAE), JustFestival (Edinburgh, UK), National Centre for Per forming Arts (Mumbai, India), and Sri Krishna Gana Sabha (Chennai, India), and appearances in Ja pan, Taiwan, Indonesia,and Russia. Nadel is a McKnight Fellow inDance, and a recipient of grants from the Min -nesota State Arts Board, Minneapolis JewishFederation, Metro Regional Arts Council,Rimon: the Minnesota Jewish Arts Council,and the Jerome Foundation. She is currentlyworking with choreographer Ranee Rama -swamy on a solo work rooted in the writings ofthe Sephardic Jewish poets of Golden AgeSpain. Nadel is Ragamala’s director of institu-tional development and holds a degree in religious studies and dance from MacalesterCollege. She served on the City of MinneapolisArts Commission from 2008–10, and is cur-rently on the board of Minnesota Citizens forthe Arts.

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Jessica Fiala (dancer) has been studying withRanee and Aparna Ramaswamy since 2006 andhas toured with Ragamala throughout the USand to India, the UK, and the UAE. She is ateacher at the Ragamala School and has taughtacross the US and in Bangkok, Thailand. Fialaholds an interdisciplinary master’s degree inmuseum studies and cultural studies from theUniversity of Minnesota, and has written aboutBharatanatyam, museum history, and publicart. She has presented research at conferencesat the University of Naples “l’Orientale” (2013),University of Shanghai (2016), and Universityof Pittsburgh (2016), and participated on a pa -nel for the Society of Dance History Scholars’Beyond Authenticity and Appropriation confer-ence. Her writing on museums is included inthe anthology The Ruined Archive (2014), andshe was a research coordinator for the 2015Inter national Award for Public Art. Fiala is a re-search associate at Lutman & Associates.

Preethy Mahesh (Carnatic vocal) has been ac-companying eminent dancers since 2003. Shebelongs to the traditional school of music initi-ated by respected guru Sangitha Kalanidhi ShriD.K. Jararaman, and later came under the tute-lage of Tanjore Shri S. Kalyanaraman. A gradedartist of All India Radio, Mahesh has severalrecordings to her credit, many in collaborationwith dancer Smt. Priyadarsini Go vind. She hastoured widely as an accompanist to many ofIndia’s most renowned dancers, performing atprestigious festivals and venues around theworld with performers including Alar mél Valli,Vyjayanthimala Bali, Priyadarsini Govind, Re -vathi Ramachandran, Rukmini Vijay kumar,Sho bana, and the Dhanajayans. Mahesh is therecipient of the Best Dance Vo calist award fromSri Krishna Gana Sabha (Chen nai, India), andthe Bharatalaya Trust honored her with the titleGana Kokilam. Rohan Krishnamurthy (mridangam), describedas the “pride of India” by the Times of India, is amusical ambassador specializing in Indian per-cussion. He received advanced training fromthe esteemed Indian master Guruvayur Dorai.

Distinguished as a soloist, composer, and collaborator, Krishnamurthy performed withlegend ary Indian musicians and GrammyAward-winning artists such as Glen Velez,Anoushka Shankar, and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt.An acclaimed educator, he earned a PhD inmusicology from the Eastman School of Musicin New York. Krishnamurthy has presented andtaught at renowned institutions including theEast man School of Music, Harvard University,and A.R. Rehman’s K.M. Conservatory ofMusic (India). He directs the award-winningRohan Rhythm Percussion Studio, which has at-tracted dozens of students from around theglobe. Krishna murthy holds a patent for a noveldrum tuning system that is now availableworldwide. For more information, please visitwww.Rohan Rhythm.com.

Arun Ramamurthy (violin) is a versatile violin-ist, composer, and educator based in New YorkCity. A disciple of the celebrated Carnatic vio-linist bro thers Dr. Mysore Manjunath and SriMy sore Nagaraj, Ramamurthy has become oneof the country’s leading Indian classical andcrossover musicians, performing internation-ally in traditional Carnatic and Hindustani set-tings and cross-genre creative projects. He hasbeen fortunate to perform with artists such asDr. Balamurali Krishna, Sudha Ragunathan,Anindo Chatterjee, T.N. Seshagopoloan, Mash -koor Ali Khan, Marc Cary, and Awa Sangho. Heleads the Arun Ramamurthy Trio, an ensemblethat brings a fresh approach to age-old SouthIndian classical repertoire and raga-inspiredoriginals. Praised by All About Jazz for “a beau-tiful, exotic, ear-opening listening experience,”his trio’s debut album Jazz Carnatica was pickedby NPR’s New Sounds as a “Top New Release.”Ramamurthy is a co-founder and vice presidentof Brooklyn Raga Massive. He created the con-cert series Carnatic Sundays at Cornelia StreetCafé, an iconic jazz venue in New York’s WestVillage. He teaches students of all levels, and hastaught workshops at music schools, universities,conservatories, and summer music programs.For more information, please visit www.arun-ramamurthy.com.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

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Kasi Aysola (nattuvangam), co-founder and co-artistic director of Prakriti Dance, is a Bhara -tanatyam dancer, choreographer, and per for merwho trained under his guru, Viji Prakash, formore than 10 years. Aysola has been privilegedto work with leading exponents of Bharata -nat yam including C.V. Chandrasekhar, SudhaChan drasekhar, Bragha Bessel, Ajith BhaskaranDass, Harikrishna Kalayana sun daram, andMythili Prakash. He has performed as a soloistin the US and India and toured with the ShaktiDance Company, Dak shina Dance Company,and Blue13 Dance Company. A versatile andeclectic artist, Aysola has continued his study ofIndian dance and music, including Ku chi pudidance under Sri Vempati Ravi Shankar andYamini Saripalli, and Carnatic music underVanaja Dasika.

Jeff Bartlett (lighting design) has been honoredto light Ragamala Dance Company since  ACanticle of Mary in 1994. He has lit many of thecompany’s signature works, including Song ofthe Jasmine, Sacred Earth, 1,001 Buddhas: Jour -ney of the Gods, Yathra/Journey, The TransposedHeads, Body and Soul, Bhakti, Sthree, and Ihrah.A dance lighting specialist based in Minnea -polis, Bartlett has lit scores of artists in hun-dreds of productions over more than two de -cades. A 2008 Artist of the Year in City Pagesmagazine, his design work has also been recog-nized with a 2015 St Paul Cultural Star award,a 2014 Knight Arts challenge grant, 2010 and2005 Sage Awards for Dance, and a 2003 Mc -Knight Theater Artist Fellowship.  Bartlett is the production manager and resident lighting de signer at the Weitz Center for Creativity atCarle ton College.

Support for the creation and touring of  Writtenin Water was provided by a 2016 Joyce Awardfrom the Joyce Foundation, the Doris Duke Per -forming Artist Awards program, and grants fromNew Music USA (made possible by annual pro-gram support and/or endowment gifts from theAndrew W. Mellon Foundation, Mary FlaglerCary Charitable Trust, Baisley Powell ElebashFund, and Gladys Krieble Delmas Found ation),the Na tional Endowment for the Arts, the Asso -cia tion of Performing Arts Presenters (with sup-port from the Andrew W. Mellon Founda tion),the Caro lyn Foundation, and Caroline AmplatGiving.

Additional support for Ragamala’s 25th Anni -versary Season comes from The McKnight Foun -dation; the Doris Duke Charitable Foun dation;Target; the Dr. Dash Foundation, whose missionis to preserve and promote rich Indian heritageand culture; the Goodale Family Foundation; thevoters of Minnesota through a grant from theMinnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legisla-tive appropriation from the arts and culturalheritage fund; and members of Ragamala’s “Ra -sika Circle.” 

For more on Ragamala Dance CompanyFor upcoming tour dates in the US and abroad,or to subscribe to Ragamala’s e-newsletter, visitwww.ragamaladance.org and info@ raga mala -dance.org.

Tel: 612-824-1968.

Exclusive Representation:Elsie Management; Laura Colby, directorwww.elsieman.org; info@elsieman.org Tel: (718) 797-4577

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

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