The Joyce Theater

Ragamala Dance Company presents Children of Dharma, the latest work by Bharatanatyam choreographers Aparna, Ranee, and Ashwini Ramaswamy. Their creative partnership as mother and daughters centers South Indian embodied rituals in the immigrant experience—upholding dance as a spiritual practice that can inspire, heal, and transform. Children of Dharma takes inspiration from Keerthik Sasidharan’s novel The Dharma Forest, a re-envisioning of the epic text, The Mahabharata.

With scenic design by French artist Willy Cessa, poetic movement and lush visual imagery reveal the rippling effects of dharma, or “right action,” through the body. Through a series of atmospheric vignettes,  Children of Dharma illustrates the emotional, moral, and physical consequences of waging warfare within the self.