“While Sacred Earth showcases [Ragamala’s] total commitment to the Indian dance form Bharatanatyam, it’s also a fine example of what magic can happen when movement, visual artistry and music exist in close harmony with one another on stage.” (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
Born and raised in south India, Ragamala Dance’s Artistic Directors Ranee Ramaswamy and Aparna Ramaswamy bring that culture’s unique sensibility of mysticism, myth and sanctity to the contemporary stage. Sacred Earth unifies Bharatanatyam with the ephemeral arts, classical music, and Tamil Sangam literature (300 B.C.E. – 300 C.E.) of India. Sacred Earth’s choreography, ranging from contemplative to ecstatic, brings both internal (akam) and external (puram) landscapes to life through two ephemeral visual traditions—kolam floor designs and Warli wall paintings.
Kolams are rice flour designs made each morning by women in southern India as conscious offerings to Mother Earth. This daily ritual creates a sacred space and becomes a link between the intimate home and the vastness of the outside world. The Warli people of western India revere the land and live a life in perfect coexistence with nature. Using their everyday lives as inspiration, their dynamic wall paintings use art to find the spiritual in the everyday.
The choreographers use the philosophy and myth of these traditions to explore the interconnectedness between humans and the landscapes that shape them. Accompanied by live music, the evening builds from silent, meditative beginnings to a thrilling crescendo, the performers surrender to the beauty of this sacred earth that has been given to us to safeguard, cherish, and pass on to our future generations.
