Ranee Ramaswamy is a 2012 US Artist Fellow
Twin Cities-based dancer Ranee Ramaswamy can add another accomplishment to her ever-growing list of achievements. The Ragamala Dance Company founder and co-artistic director has been named a United States Artists Fellow and awarded a $50,000 USA Fellowship grant for artistic excellence.
It has been a good year for Ramaswamy. This summer, she received a huge honor from President Barack Obama when he nominated her to the National Council on the Arts.
Ramaswamy, who began teaching and performing Bharatanatyam dance in the Twin Cities in 1978, founded Ragamala in 1992. She has dreceive 14 McKnight artist fellowships, a Bush fellowship and awards from the NEA, National Dance Project and Minnesota State Arts Board. Walker Art Center, the American Composers Forum and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts all have commissioned her work, and Ramaswamy’s tours have been highlighted by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the American Dance Festival and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai, India.
by Amy Carlson Gustafson
