Aparna Ramaswamy / photo provided by Ragamala Dance

New York Times dance critic Alastair Macaulay, often a Mr. Crankypants (see his numerous takedowns of Mark Morris for just one example), hearts Ragamala Dance, the Minneapolis-based troupe that performed March 9 at Kennedy Center as part of the "Maximum India" festival, which continues in D.C. through March 20.

Ragmala's program in D.C. included a solo by Aparna Ramaswamy and a piece for five women. "No sooner had Ragamala begun, than every moment seemed precise, specific, focused," Macaulay wrote in his review on Saturday. "From those sharply defined beginnings arose complexities both rapturous and profound," he went on.

Other adverb-laden characterizations included "movingly meditative," "enchantingly beautiful" and "thrillingly three-dimensional."

Read the full review here.

See Ragamala at its next Twin Cities show, March 25-27 at the O'Shaughnessy in St. Paul.