Ragamala Dance Company

As first generation Indian-American choreographers, Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy (mother and daughter) explore the birth-death-rebirth continuum in Hindu thought to examine immigrant experiences of life and death in the diaspora and the tenacity of people and cultures across time. Fires of Varanasi has grown from their experience of the death of their father/grandfather away from his homeland and his desire for his ashes to be scattered in the Ganges River in the sacred city of Varanasi, as his ancestors before him. Conceived uniquely for each community, Fires of Varanasi evokes and embodies the millions whose feet rewrite a city’s geography year after year. Scenic/light design by Willy Cessa (France).

Estimated Artist Fee: Estimates do not include lodging: $38,000/performance; $58,000/week.