Dancer Amarnath Ghosh, Who Dazzled Local Audiences, Shot Dead in St. Louis

Amarnath Ghosh in a performance last August at the Battery Dance Festival in Rockefeller Park. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

From an exquisite performance in August on a stage at Rockefeller Park to death on a street corner in St. Louis last week, the tragic passage of a brilliant Indian classical dancer hits hard. American gun violence has claimed yet another victim, this time, Amarnath Ghosh, 34, a dancer of rare talent who made his New York City debut on August 15th, India’s Independence Day, in front of an overflow audience at the Battery Dance  Festival.  

Ghosh’s solo performance was notable for its remarkable dynamic range: lightning footwork with diamond-sharp rhythmic attack counterposed with fluid arm gestures, painting the sky as the sun set, and a final pose with hands clasped in prayer, eyes and arms directed upward at the heavens, with one leg bent underneath, the other fully extended on the floor. 

In Memoriam - Amarnath Ghosh from Battery Dance on Vimeo.

As authoritative while dancing on a brass plate as he was traversing the outdoor Festival stage with gazelle-like leaps, Amarnath displayed his gifts as an exponent of both Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam styles with highest credentials from reputed institutions in Chennai, India. Eager to expand his horizons by studying Western contemporary technique, history and philosophy of dance in the U.S., he was due to graduate with an MFA degree from Washington University in St. Louis this spring on a full fellowship. He had spent the past year and a half training young Indian dance students in Pittsburgh, Washington, DC and other American cities whenever a break from his university course load would allow. Selected by Washington University as its representative at the American College Dance Festival in 2023, it didn’t take long for Ghosh to make his mark professionally, while his gregariousness endeared him to his peers, professors and young dancers. 

Social media outpourings of grief and news items in The Times of India, Economic Times and other mainstream press from the Subcontinent present a stark juxtaposition with scant reportage in the American media. One is left to wonder whether the deadly attack on an immigrant is somehow considered lacking in news value as well as the unanswerable question of what could have provoked an anonymous gunman to fire repeatedly, extinguishing a life that held so much promise.

Jonathan Hollander is the founder and artistic director of Battery Dance, and a former Fulbright lecturer in India.