Indian Letters
Indian Letters (in development) excerpts
Indian Letters is an immersive digital-theater project about the story of two people: Preeti Vasudevan & Amar Ramasar, both award-winning performers, who rediscover themselves through a dynamic dialogue of cultural exchange by asking the question "where is home?" throwing new light on issues of race, assimilation, faith and identity in the twenty-first century.
Photo Credit: Slezak and Pavlos, 2016
Indian Letters, formerly known as Etudes has been developed and supported by various organizations and individuals since 2016.
Some highlights are:
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The Center for Ballet and the Arts, NYU (2016)
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National Dance Institute (2016/2018)
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American College of Greece, Athens (2017)
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MESS @ the Fire Museum (2019)
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US Department of State (2019)
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Works & Process (2022)
In 2019, Vasudevan and Ramasar journeyed to India to do a 3 week documentary film to make deeper connections with their heritage and their working narrative. The tour took them from the south of India all the way to the north and eventually to the eastern port city of Kolkata where Ramasar's forefather was shipped as an indentured laborer to Trinidad.
Their tour of India was partially funded by the US Department of State to foster cultural diplomacy by performing their creative work and conducting workshops for dance schools and underserved youth communities.
Indian Letters is a dynamic combination of the documentary and the live creative work between Vasudevan and Ramasar.
Preeti Vasudevan: Artistic Director/Choreographer
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Award-winning choreographer and cultural storyteller Preeti Vasudevan's provocative theatrical works redefine individual identity, uniting artists and audiences alike. Her creations have been lauded as a refreshing collision of eastern and western aesthetics pushing for a new expression in art-making. Using just about every mode of the performing arts (including dance, music, poetry, visual art, mime, and theater), Preeti invites cutting-edge collaborators to form a 21st-century language of expression. Her unconventional storytelling challenges the status quo of dance-theater, bridging ancient traditions with the contemporary world.
Amar Ramasar: Performer, Co-Creator
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Amar Ramasar began his studies at the School of American Ballet (SAB) in 1993. Mr. Ramasar became an apprentice with New York City Ballet in 2000 and joined the Company as a member of the Corps de Ballet the following year. He was promoted to Soloist in 2006 and Principal Dancer in 2009. While dancing with the Company Mr. Ramasar was featured in numerous works by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. Mr. Ramasar was a recipient of the Bessie Award for Outstanding Performer in 2015, and a Mae L. Wien Award recipient for 2000. Ramasar has been featured in many collaborative projects as well as in lead roles on Broadway (Carousel and West Side Story).
Kamala Sankaram: Composer​
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Praised as “one of the most exciting opera composers in the country” (Washington Post), composer Kamala Sankaram moves freely between the worlds of experimental music and contemporary opera. Recent commissions include works for The Glimmerglass Festival, Washington National Opera, the PROTOTYPE Festival, and Creative Time, among others.
Kamala is known for her operas fusing Indian classical music with the operatic form, including Thumbprint, A Rose, Monkey and Francine in the City of Tigers, and the forthcoming Jungle Book.
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We are grateful for our supporters...
Carol & Lawrence Saper
Perry & Martin Granoff