Choreographers Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy use the philosophy and myth of Indian traditions to explore the interconnectedness between humans and the landscapes that shape them. Accompanied by live music, the evening builds from silent, meditative beginnings to a thrilling crescendo as the performers surrender to the beauty of the sacred earth that has been given to us to safeguard, cherish, and pass on to future generations.

Sacred Earth’s choreography, ranging from contemplative to ecstatic, brings both internal (akam) and external (puram) landscapes to life through two ephemeral visual traditions – kolam floor designs and Warli wall paintings – creating a sacred space and becoming a link between the intimate home and the vastness of the outside world. Kolams are rice flour designs made each morning by women in southern India as conscious offerings to Mother Earth. The Warli people of western India revere the land and live in perfect coexistence with nature. Using their everyday lives as inspiration, they create dynamic wall paintings that find the spiritual in the everyday.

Sacred Earth reframes the cultural specificity of the Bharatanatyam dance tradition, bringing the eloquence of the form to universal themes in order to spark a global conversation.