Swati initially made her mark as a reputed Bharatanatyam Dancer by synthesizing key elements of classical dramaturgy into both traditional and contemporary choreography in the performing arts. In 1977, Swati was the first disciple of Padma Vibhushan Dr. Sonal Mansingh. Since her debut performance at The Center of Indian Classical Dances in New Delhi, she has performed extensively around the world at venues including the National Centre for the Performing Arts (India), Lincoln Center, Asia Society, Symphony Space, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, SPIC MACAY, and the House of Soviet Culture, among others.
Swati Bhise is the Director, Writer & Producer of a period drama film, The Warrior Queen of Jhansi, based on the life of the iconic Rani of Jhansi. The film released in November 2019 in theatres across America, India, and Canada and VOD release in 2020 and further global release in Australia, New Zealand, UK & Middle East in 2020. The film was the first Hollywood action film in history with a female Indian lead and received the Film of Impact Award at the Vancouver International Women in Film Festival and the prestigious Reframe Stamp for gender parity in film. The Warrior Queen of Jhansi is a salute to the iconic Indian Queen, Rani Lakshmibai, whose empowered spirit continues to stay relevant 180 years after her demise. To celebrate this spirit, she awarded 11 incredible women across India & USA with the “Spirit of the Rani” award for their pathbreaking work to bring in social transformation.
Inspired by the film, she also the founder of Making Herstory Project, a bi-partisan advocacy organization aimed at closing the gender gap and promoting the economic empowerment of women. Making Herstory is dedicated to a civic, activist and legislative agenda crafted and driven by women in pursuit of dignity and empowerment for women.
Prior to this, she served as Executive Producer and Indian cultural consultant
on The Man Who Knew Infinity, an Ed Pressman Film starring Dev Patel and
Jeremy Irons. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and went on to
screen at The White House to critical acclaim and open festivals in Zurich, India,
Dubai, and Singapore, among others. She has served on numerous panels including the five-member grand jury at the 9th annual Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META).
In 2012, Swati founded The Sadir Theater Festival, a three-day festival focused on thought provoking content that takes place annually in Goa. Critically acclaimed theater stars have participated over the years, and she is still the festival’s artistic director. Swati brought the UNESCO heritage art form KunQu opera, one of the oldest styles of Chinese theatre, to India for the first time with performances at The National Centre for the Performing Arts, Mumbai, and at Siri Fort Auditorium in New Delhi.
She served as a virtual ambassador of Indian culture and classical arts in New York for 35 years and founded Sanskriti Centre, a nonprofit organization that promoted Indian artists and introduced Indian classical arts to a generation of American children. In addition to a deep study of music, dance and theatre, she has a Masters in Indian and Chinese history that has led her to combine different artistic mediums: North and South Indian music with western classical Jazz. In 2017 she was invited to open the renowned Newport Jazz Festival with her original Carnatic-Jazz fusion composition. In 2015, she conducted her first Jazz and Carnatic music symphony at Jazz at Lincoln Centre to a full house, winning her wide acclaim in the Wall Street Journal.
A multifaceted performer, Swati has worked as a choreographer, actress, scriptwriter, TV show host with “Spotlight on Culture”, New York correspondent for Sruti magazine, and curator of art festivals in New York and India. Swati’s contributions range from performances at the U.N. General Assembly, choreography of Broadway shows including The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Transposed Heads and acting in operas such as Daddy meets Durga.
She was an artist in residence at The Brearley School for 22 years and remains an artist in residence at Lincoln Centre Institute and Symphony Space with an
emphasis on arts in education.
She is also an outspoken advocate for women’s empowerment with a focus on
South East Asia and The Warrior Queen of Jhansi was the culmination of many years of work in this sphere. She is a Lotus Circle advisor for The Asia Foundation, which serves to empower women and girls in Asia through education.
