Did You Know? A Glance at Ashwini Ramaswamy and Kevork Mourad: Invisible Cities

As a founding member of Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy’s (her mother and sister) Ragamala Dance Company and a student of Bharatanatyam for over 30 years, Ashwini Ramaswamy has toured extensively, performing throughout the U.S. and in Russia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Japan, the U.K, and India. She has also traveled and performed across the world as a soloist.

Italo Calvino, author of Invisible Cities, was described by the New York Times as Italy’s “most original storyteller.” Invisible Cities has influenced artists long after its publication. It has been adapted into an opera, was staged in 2013 in Los Angeles’ Union Station, and is now being interpreted to dance.

St. Paul native, Berit Ahlgren, trained with Minnesota Dance Theater and was a founding company member of TU Dance before studying the Gaga Movement Language in Tel Aviv. Shortly after studying Gaga, she moved to Israel to pursue an intensive, yearlong teacher certification. Since moving back to the U.S., Ahlgren has been working as a dance educator, performer, choreographer, and collaborator across the U.S. and abroad.

This is not the first time The Great Northern, The Cowles Center, and Northrop have joined forces to present dance featuring Brooklyn-born dancer-choreographer, educator, artist organizer, and curator Alanna Morris. In 2022, Morris’—Black Light a re:Search performance by Alanna Morris and Collaborators captivated The Cowles Center audiences.

Founding member of BRKFST Dance Company and the breaking crew Knuckleheads Cali, Joseph “MN Joe” Tran began his career as a professional breaker in 2005. Since then, he has received the 2019 McKnight Dancer Fellowship and has earned multiple first-place victories in breaking competitions across the US, Europe, and South America.

Syrian-Armenian artist Kevork Mourad brings art, music, and current events together in his extraordinary work. As a painting performance and animation artist, he has collaborated with many world-renowned musicians including Yo-Yo Ma, Kim Kashkashian, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Brooklyn Rider, The Knights, Perspectives Ensemble, Paola Prestini, and Kinan Azmeh.