Shri Lakshmi

🪔 About

Dr. Lakshmi Ramaswamy is a highly acclaimed Bharatanatyam dancer, teacher, choreographer, and academician, widely recognized as a prominent figure in Indian classical dance. Born in 1968, her journey in dance began at the age of five in Tirunelveli, where she received her initial training from Smt. Indira Krishnamoorthy. Following her marriage, she moved to Chennai and continued her advanced studies under the tutelage of Padmasri Chitra Visweswaran at the Chidambaram Academy for Bharatanatyam. Further enriching her artistic repertoire, Dr. Ramaswamy also trained in 'Karanas' with Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam, 'Abhinaya' under Padmabhushan Kalanidhi Narayan, and delved into Tamil texts with Dr. S. Raghuraman. As a performer, she holds an 'A' grade artist status with Doordarshan and is an empanelled artist of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the South Zone Cultural Centre. Her extensive career has seen her perform numerous solos and group productions at national and international festivals across countries including the USA, UK, Canada, France, Arab countries, Australia, and Sri Lanka. Dr. Ramaswamy is also a distinguished academic, holding the distinction of being the first Doctorate in Bharatanatyam from the University of Madras, where she also serves as a Guest Faculty for the MA Bharatanatyam course. She is the Founder-Director of Sri Mudhraalaya, an institution established in 1993/1994, dedicated to training young aspirants in Bharatanatyam. Her teaching philosophy emphasizes holistic training, fostering individual dancers who can improvise and analyze, leading many of her students to become independent teachers, soloists, PhD scholars, and graded artists. Awards & Honours: Senior Scholarship of the Central Government, Fulbright fellowship (2000), Yuva Kala Bharati, Abinaya Aadalarasi, Natya Kala Ranjini, Nritya Vidhya Ratna, Natya kala Vipanchi, Balasaraswathi endowment prize of Sri Krishna Gana Sabha (1998), Kalaimamani (2017), Devdasi National Award (2017), Vani Kala Nipuna from Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha (2013), Binfield Endowment Award from Narada Gana Sabha (2024), Nritya Kala Ratna from RR Sabha (2024), Acharya Kala award by Vipanchee Arts (2015).