Kiruthika Rathanaswami is a bharata natyam dancer, one of the classical dance styles from India. Kiruthika graduated from the famed and recognized bharata natyam Vancouver institution, the Jai Govinda Dance Academy in 2004. While in Vancouver, she performed in many of Mandala Arts and Culture productions and presentations as a soloist, as well as in many group choreographies. Since moving to Edmonton, she has continued performing professionally across Canada and in the USA. Amongst her most notable performances were Canada Dance Festival, Gait to the Spirit Festival, Horizon Series, Feats Festival, HH11 Dance Festival, Nextfest, Baltimore Dance Invitational, New Works Dance All Sorts, Discover Dance Noon Series, and Solo: A Festival of Dance.
For this new presentation, Kiruthika has received support from the Edmonton Arts Council, Mandala Arts and Culture, and the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre. Choreographed by Jai Govinda, Artistic Director of Mandala Arts and Culture Society and recipient of both the 2014 “Mayor’s Arts Awards-Honouree/Dance” and 2006 Dance Centre’s “Isadora Award“, this new dance offering opens with a salute to the sun, and follows with choreographies based on the theme of love, revealing the sometime hidden erotica facets of poetry and music in the Indian classical dance forms. The music was recorded in India by one of today’s top vocalist and music conductor, Balasubramanya Sharma/ Bangalore.
Kiruthika has also hired the visual support and design of Sridar Elumalai to enhance and add her own personal touch to the presentation. This new production premiered at the opening night of the 2019 Chinook Series Azimuth Theatre’s Expanse Festival, curated by Good Women Dance Collective on February 7th and 8th in Edmonton. Liz Nicholls reviewed Kiruthika’s performance “Love and desire: amazingly intricate storytelling from Kiruthika Rathanaswami on opening night of @ChinookSeries at the Arts Barn! Her hands are a puppet theatre all their own” The Vancouver premiere will be on March 7th and 8th 2019 at the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre.
Kiruthika is the recipient of 2010 Shastri India Studies Arts Fellowship from the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, the 2012 City of Vancouver “The Mayor’s Arts Award” for emerging artist in Dance and the 2016 Dancing Damsel Women Achiever Award for the Performing Arts.
