Preethi Ramaprasad

🪔 About

Preethi Ramaprasad is a multifaceted transnational dancer, musician, and researcher specializing in Bharatanatyam, primarily based in San Francisco, USA. She received extensive training in Bharatanatyam for over two decades from the renowned Prof. Sudharani Raghupathy of Shree Bharatalaya in Chennai, India, making annual visits to India for intensive study. Ramaprasad also has a background in Carnatic music. Furthering her academic pursuits, she earned a Ph.D. in Critical Dance Studies from the University of California, Riverside. Her doctoral research critically examines the politics and representation in the performance of myth among transnational Bharatanatyam practitioners. Ramaprasad's career encompasses performance, curation, and research. She has toured and performed Bharatanatyam across India, Europe, and the United States, showcasing her unique choreographic approach that experiments with the form through poetry, community building, and storytelling. Her notable choreographic works include the screen dance film "Yours, Tenderly" (2024), "A Movement Beyond" (2021), and "As You Are" (2022, 2025). Beyond performing, Ramaprasad is a significant community builder in the South Asian arts diaspora. She co-curates three prominent platforms: "Varnam Salon," an intimate space for sharing Bharatanatyam choreography; "Performing Voices of Bhakti," which features artists performing radical South Asian poetry; and "When Eyes Speak," San Francisco's first South Asian choreography festival. She also previously worked as a school teacher in New York City with Teach for America from 2011-2012. As an educator, Ramaprasad conducts workshops on Bharatanatyam and its global politics at esteemed institutions such as Barnard College, Juilliard School of the Arts, Sonoma State University, Heart with Lines by Alonzo King, and YoungArts. She also offers one-on-one classes and plans to offer regular classes in San Francisco. Awards & Honours: San Francisco Arts Commission and San Francisco Public Library Residency (2023), Gluck Fellows Program of the Arts, Zellerbach Family Foundation, American Conservatory Theater ArtShare Fellowship, Deborah Slater Dance Theater Residency, SAFEhouse Arts Lead Artist Fellowship, All-Rounder Yuva Kala Bharati for Young Artists, Guru Sanjukta Panigrahi Award, National YoungArts Scholarship, YoungArts Fellow in Dance (2025), Bridge Live Arts, Creative Work Fund, Kenneth Rainin New Program Award, East Bay Community Foundation, American Society for Theater Research.