RAMYA HARISHANKAR
Ramya Harishankar is the artistic director of the Arpana Dance Company (ADC) and School, a premier school of Bharata Natyam in California and the United States.
Named a ‘legacy artist’ by the California Arts Council, Harishankar was awarded an Individual Artist Fellowship recently. She was named ‘Distinguished citizen’ by the city of Irvine and selected for the Wall of Recognition for her contribution to the cultural landscape. Earlier in 2022, she was recognized with a Lifetime Achievement award by the LA based Soorya Foundation.
During the pandemic, Harishankar shared online sessions on the intricacies of abhinaya/interpretive dance with teachers and keen students of dance, both nationally and internationally. She also premiered a digital series Dance Conversations, a retrospective of Indian dance in S. California, documenting her four-decade journey in the Diaspora through the ‘lens & voice’ of her mentors, colleagues, and collaborators. Her short ‘dance’ films – Bhumika on climate change and Aasha…until we meet again, a tribute to 9/11 have been featured in several dance festivals as well as received awards at numerous film festivals.
In 2012, she was given the Kala Seva Bharathi award by Bharat Kalachar, India for her contribution to Indian arts abroad. In 2007, the 25th anniversary of Arpana was recognized with several citations/awards from the State Senate of California, County of Los Angeles and cities and organizations in Southern California, as well as the Helene Modjeska Cultural Legacy award from Arts OC, the countywide arts organization in Orange County.
ADC has performed extensively in the US, Europe, India, and Japan. Harishankar and ADC have received several grants from the California Arts Council, Alliance for California Traditional Arts, Fun for Folk Culture and is a 2-time National Endowment of the Arts’ Choreographic Fellow.
As an artist on Segerstrom Performing Arts Center Arts Teach roster, she has been sharing her art with school children all over S. California since 1989. Her solo career spanning more than five decades has taken her all over the world – performing extensively in India, Asia, Europe, Australia, and N. America. ramya@arpanadancecompany.org
Harishankar is a founder/board member of Ektaa Center (formerly known as Arpana Foundation). Ektaa that has brought over 40 renowned Indian dancers/ musicians/companies to S. California audiences since 1989 has become a premier and a one of a kind organization in S. California.
She is an empanelled artiste of the ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations).
She has served as a panelist at the National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council and World Arts West.
