Ashwini Ramaswamy in the press
The source is Ramaswamy — alive and glittering in her sculptural poses, her exacting footwork and her fluttering, birdlike fingers and hands that illustrate, in part, the role of the crow in connecting the living to the dead. After dancing by herself and then being briefly joined by Ahlgren and Morris, she ends her opening solo alone. The same structure is repeated with the other two, knitting the work together with simple eloquence.
—Gia Kourlas, The New York Times
“a fascinating, beautifully developed exchange of dance styles among three women.Though each solo was different, certain shapes and contours reappeared — wide-leg stances, beckoning gestures, spiraling turns — as well as a spirit of inquiry and spiritual searching.”
—Sarah Kaufman, The Washington Post “Best Dance of 2021”
“Ramaswamy [is] a dancer of vibrant clarity and warmth…her work often explores the in-betweenness of her cultural identity, the experience of being from both India and the United States.”
—Siobhan Burke, The New York Times spring arts preview
“A fascinating evening of transfer and transformation, and a celebration of dual identities.”
— Pamela Espeland, MinnPost
“Ashwini Ramaswamy owns the stage with her powerful creation, “Nocturne.’ Inspired by the dream-like mysteries of nighttime, the work drew upon poetry and a hint of entomology to transport audiences into a suspended realm where transcendent Bharatanatyam dance served as the vehicle for heart-filling enchantment.”
“Ashwini owns the stage with her powerful Bharatanatyam creation. 'Magic realism' is a technique often used in literature but Ashwini imports the concept into the dance world.”
“This solo of sacred movement wove together, both fearfully and joyfully, the human and the divine as expressed through the body of Ms. Ramaswamy.”
“Ashwini is innovative not for the sake of trendiness but out of a sincere [even desperate] curiosity about what the art form can do.”
— Mallika Rao, (The Atlantic, The New York Times, The New Yorker)
“How does an artist emerge from an intergenerational, accolade-rich family business with her own identity? If you’re Ashwini Ramaswamy, you follow in your family’s footsteps. You also veer brilliantly in new choreographic directions with ‘Let the Crows Come,’ a work of enchanting beauty, arresting movement, and inventive intelligence.”
— City Pages’ Artist of the Year 2019