Bio
Neeraja Ramani is a dancer choreographer, and teacher active for three decades in India, Singapore, and Canada. She creates dance works sourcing material from contemporary and ancient Indian texts. Her works are informed by the deep journey within the human mind, human relationships and lived experiences. The Tamil language plays a significant part in her works. Her earlier creations were within the framework of Bharatanatyam that addressed the resilience of women and gender inequality. Her recent works explore her training-based contemporary movements. Feminism is the core material of her research and creations. Through her works, Neeraja continues to question the views of society on women’s bodies in past and present that hold complexities of gender dynamics, power, and gaze. She continues expanding her movement vocabulary, and use of language and voice in her creative process. She has performed in modern Tamil theatre with other theatre artists in India and Canada. Neeraja has collaborated in durational multidisciplinary artworks that speak of collective histories and the displacement of people. She also works and collaborates with other dance companies in Toronto.
With three decades of experience teaching Bharatanatyam, Neeraja has choreographed several dances to traditional Bharatanatyam music compositions. She is the artistic director of Kalavriksha Dance Centre, Oshawa, Ontario.
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Artistic Curiosity
I am in a middle of a vital shift in my practice and creation to find stability and grounding. I am working with the base of Bharatanatyam to find contemporary movements that become the material for choreographic ideas, time – both structural and abstract and working with a somatic approach through the body that holds space.
My curiosity is to focus on movement clarity, weight shifts, and the body’s center, gravity and spatial density. These elements evoke feelings of vastness, silence, strength, mental noise, and vulnerability. I engage to further explore these elements in my work. The concept of performativity has evolved significantly since the beginning of my career, reflecting the expansion in my creative process.
Current Training
Iyengar Yoga, Feldenkrais somatic Awareness Through Movements, Somatic Movements self-research
Awards
Nominated for the Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize, 2023, Ontario, Canada
Nominated for the Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize, 2025, Ontario, Canada
Awarded Nritya Kala Nipuna by Bhaskers Arts Acadamy, 2003, Singapore
Guru
Guru: Jayashree Narayanan, Puducherry, India — Training period 1976 to 1986, 1992 to 1998
A video of her student days can be viewed here that was part of the documentary in 1969 and her website here.
Mentors
▪ Mentor: Late Santha Bhaskar, Singapore — Training period 1999 to 2004
▪ Mentor: Late Krishnaveni Lakshmanan, Kalakshetra, Chennai, India — Training period 1989 to 1992
▪ Mentor: Late Balagopalan, Kalakshetra, Chennai, India — Training period 1989 to 1992