Ramaa & Swetha Bharadvaj

in “JWALA – Flame”

(dedicated to the Statue of Liberty) 

JWALA-Flame (commissioned by the Skirball Center, Los Angeles, in 2005), explores the question "how do we define our place in a new land?  Can we find it by either fleeing our traditions or by resisting change?"

It portrays the transformational stages of immigrant experience:  the initial sense of adventure, rejection of our own roots in our eagerness to fit in, adjustment and, finding the final equilibrium through mutual learning & sharing.

“JWALA-Flame” was nominated for Lester Horton Dance Award in March 2007, presented at the historic Downtown Dance Festival at Battery Park, NY in August 2007 and selected for national telecast on PBS in December 2007.