FAME
Foundation for Art and Music in Elementary Education

July, 1999

To Whom It May Concern:

It is with great pleasure that I recommend Ragamala Music and Dance Theater for school residencies and performances for children of all ages. Their excellent presentations were very enthusiastically received by students, teachers, and parents. The student performances of “The Rain Seed” were spectacular. Comments from students and teachers were of the highest praise for their authentic, professional performances. They also were performers at the FAME Festival in Fort Wayne for two days.

The culture, art, dance, music, and food of South Asia were the subjects of the teacher workshop in March in Fort Wayne. Ranee Ramaswamy, director of Ragamala, is an exceptional performer/teacher. She shared her vast knowledge and expertise of South Asian culture with teachers in interactive sessions in rice flour drawing, dance, and lessons on the culture of India. These valuable sessions gave the teachers empowerment to expand their knowledge to share with their students beyond the live performances which they attended earlier in the week.

FAME, Foundation for Art and Music in Elementary Education, selects a cultural focus each year to tie all arts programs together in a common theme. The FAME Visiting Artists are chosen through a very selective screening process. Ragamala Music and Dance Theater was an excellent choice to represent the culture of South Asia in our 1998-99 year. Through this program, Ragamala was able to perform for more than 35,000 students in three weeks of residency. FAME’s year round arts programs reached over 110,000 children and adults in 1998-99.

Ranee Ramaswamy was also our Visiting Artist in Residence at our FAME Fine Arts Camp, which is a week-long resident camp for children 8-14 years old. She taught courses for children in Indian Art and Dance, plus she was a valuable adviser/teacher in the collaborative project which included all of the arts in the original interpretation of the book, “In the Heart of the Village” by Barbara Bash. This book described the life of an Indian Village which existed under the Banyan Tree. In my observation of Ms. Ramaswamy, I find her to be a very gifted teacher who ignites creativity in children through dance and art.

Of all of the many excellent visiting artists that FAME has had in the past, Ranee Ramaswamy and Ragamala Music and Dance Theater ranks as one of the most impressive in professional performance, appropriate material for children, and educational impact. You will be extremely pleased to have this very talented ensemble of very dedicated artists.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me, Dorothy Kittaka, at
rkittaka@fortwayne.infi.net.

Sincerely,

Dorothy K. Kittaka
President /Co-Founder, FAME, Foundation for Art and Music in Elementary Education, Inc.
1999 Inductee to the National Teachers Hall of Fame

FAME Northeast
P.O. Box 11843
Fort Wayne, IN 46861-1843
219/471-FAME

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