Kalpana Raghuraman

Kalpana Raghuraman is a choreographer, dancer, anthropologist, and artistic director of the dance company Kalpanarts. By combining Indian dance forms with urban and contemporary dance, she has developed a new cross-border dance idiom.

Since the founding of Kalpanarts in 2015, Raghuraman has been the artistic director and choreographer of the company. Growing up as the daughter of a mother who ran an Indian dance school in Leiderdorp, she became deeply immersed in various Indian dance traditions from a young age. Her initial training took place at her mother’s school, where she specialized in classical Indian dance while also exploring styles like jazz ballet. At 21, she began producing her own dance performances.

After earning degrees in cultural anthropology and sociology, Raghuraman frequently traveled to India to deepen her knowledge of Indian dance traditions and further refine her technique and repertoire.

In the 2024-2025 season, Raghuraman was appointed Creative Associate at Dutch National Ballet, a role she will hold for two years. Her first choreography in this position will debut in the spring of 2025.

Last update: 20-11-2024