About
Dr. Anita Ratnam is a distinguished Bharatanatyam and contemporary dancer, choreographer, writer and cultural activist. Over four decades she has bridged tradition and innovation through her Neo Bharatam vocabulary, and, beyond performance, founded narthaki.com, the online hub of Indian dance, and platforms for experimental work.
Trained in Bharatanatyam in the Kalakshetra lineage and after years in the United States as a media professional, Anita Ratnam returned to India and forged a path as a contemporary artist through her Arangham Trust, co-producing The Other Festival and reviving the ritual form Kaisiki Natakam. In 2000 she launched narthaki.com, described as the online Bible of Indian dance, and received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for contemporary dance.
The artistry
Ratnam's Neo Bharatam draws together Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyattam, Kathakali, theatre, ritual and folk forms into contemporary dance-theatre that uses mythology as metaphor. A Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee for contemporary dance, she is as significant as an ecosystem-builder, curator and thinker as she is a performer, having toured 37 countries.
[Atlas Perspective] Dr. Anita Ratnam is a leading contemporary dance figure and a field-builder through narthaki.com. For festivals, contemporary programmes and arts-development initiatives, she is a strong, distinctive choice.
Anita Ratnam has shaped Indian dance both as a boundary-crossing contemporary artist and, crucially, as the founder of narthaki.com and champion of experimental and ritual forms, building the ecosystem and visibility of the field.