Chicago Tribune - Top 10 moments for dance in Chicago in 2021

Live, on a screen and behind the scenes, Chicago dance forged ahead.

Lauren Warnecke
December 8, 2021
Original Article

Ragamala Dance Company at the Harris Theater in December: Cathartic isn’t quite the right word but captures a smidgen of what it felt like to experience “Fires of Varanasi: Dance of the Eternal Pilgrim” earlier this month. For its latest work, Minneapolis-based Ragamala drew inspiration from the holy city of Varanasi, India, where the faithful sojourn to convene with the divine and spread loved ones’ ashes along the Ganges River. Brimming with allegory, this relatively simple production points your eyes to the pops of color that show up in the dancers’ vibrant costumes and flower petals strewed into three shallow reflection pools decorated with tiny tea lights. Those pools frame crisp, perfect bharatanatyam phrases, while hanging above the stage, brass bells, tolled from time to time, call the elders to join. They were certainly among us.