Artist Detail

• Tell-a-friend

Ramya Harishankar

Choreographer - Dancer - Performance Artist

About the artist:

Ramya Harishankar combines the elegance, grace and suppleness of the Vazhavoor School of Bharata Natyam with the distinctive ability to express all shades of emotion with sensitivity and intuition.

In 2007, Arpana School of Dance under the guidance of Harishankar completed 25 years of sharing Bharata Natyam in the Southland. Classic Arpana 25, a presentation in celebration of the event was presented at The Barclay in Irvine followed by a very successful tour of India. The Company was accompanied by LA based Kinnara Taiko. Besides several citations and awards from the State Senate, County of Los Angeles and cities and organizations in Southern California, she was the recipient of the much coveted Helene Modjeska Cultural Legacy award from Arts OC, the countywide arts organization in Orange County.

In 2005 May, she was the co convener of the first Indian dance symposium in California titled ‘Dance Conversations: Indian Dance in California – past, present & future. In 2003, she was recognized as the Outstanding Artist of the Year by Arts OC. Harishankar has also been a grantee under the Traditional Folk Arts program of the California Arts Council (01-02) and the Alliance for California Traditional Arts. The National Endowments for the Arts (NEA) had earlier awarded her the prestigious Choreographer's Fellowship (93-97).

As an artist on the Arts Teach and Arts Connect roster of the Orange County Performing Arts Center, she has been sharing her art with school children all over Southern California. She also regularly conducts workshops/master classes in the US and more recently in Europe and Asia. Her solo career spanning nearly three decades has taken her all over the world – performing extensively in India, S. E. Asia, the Far East, Europe, the Middle East, Australia, Canada and the US. In 1982, Harishankar established the school, Arpana which has grown to become a premier school of Bharata Natyam in California. The Arpana Dance Company (ADC), made up of the graduates of the school, has performed under her guidance in the US, Europe and India. www.danceramya.com