Lakshmi Ramaswamy

🪔 About

Dr. Lakshmi Ramaswamy is a distinguished Bharatanatyam exponent, teacher, choreographer, researcher, and author, born in 1968. Her dance journey began at age five in Tirunelveli, where she received initial training from Smt Indira Krishnamoorthy. Following her marriage, she moved to Chennai and further honed her skills under the tutelage of Padmasri Chitra Visweswaran at the Chidambaram Academy for Bharatanatyam. She also received specialized training in 'Karanas' from Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam, 'abinaya' from Padmabhushan Kalanidhi Narayanan, and Tamil texts from Dr. S. Raghuraman. Academically accomplished, Dr. Ramaswamy holds twin Master's degrees in Commerce and Bharatanatyam, and is notably the first person to earn a Doctorate in Bharatanatyam from Madras University. She is recognized as a 'Top' Grade Artiste of Doordarshan and an empanelled artist with the ICCR and South Zone Cultural Centre. Her international recognition includes being India's first US Fulbright Fellow in Bharatanatyam in Arts and Culture Management in 2000, and a Senior Fellow at the Ministry of Culture, India. As a prolific choreographer, she has created over 280 works, including 29 full-length productions and more than 150 solo units. Her choreography "Sculptor's Dream" was awarded best choreography at the IDA festival in 2002, and "Purananuru" received the best production certificate from Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha in 2012. Dr. Ramaswamy is the Founder-Director of Sri Mudhraalaya, an institution established in Chennai in 1993, dedicated to preserving and promoting Bharatanatyam. She serves as a Guest Faculty for the MA Bharatanatyam course at Madras University and as a PhD Guide at Vels University, also authoring Bharatanatyam course books for various universities. She has conducted numerous workshops and lecture-demonstrations globally, including in the USA, UK, Canada, France, Australia, and Sri Lanka. Awards & Honours: Senior Scholarship of the Central Government / Senior Fellow at Ministry of Culture, Fulbright fellowship (2000), Yuva Kala Bharati, Abinaya Aadalarasi, Natya Kala Ranjini, Nritya Vidhya Ratna, Natya kala Vipanchi (2009), Balasaraswathi endowment prize of Sri Krishna Gana Sabha (1998), Kalaimamani (2017), Acharya Kala award by Vipanchee Arts (2015), Devdasi National Award (2017), Vani Kala Nipuna from Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha (2013), ACHARYA KALASAKARA Lifetime Achievement Award from Griffin College, London (2025).