Ragamala Dance Company photo by Kyle Flubacker.
Minneapolis-based Ragamala Dance Company performed
Fires of Varanasi: Dance of the Eternal 
Pilgrim at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance last week. Mother Ranee Ramaswarmy, and her daughters Aparna and Ashwini created this
bharatanatyam, a classical, 2,000-year-old Indian dance of eight continuous vignettes to commemorate the death of their Hindu father/grandfather. For centuries, Hindus have made annual pilgrimages to the northern Indian city of Varanasi to scatter loved ones’ ashes on the Ganges River, so cleansing and anointment with water made many metaphorical and literal appearances in the production.
Ragamala Dance Company photo by Kyle Flubacker.
Designed by Willy Cessa, the sparse stage had real pools of water on the sides and in the back; the former also included floating candles and the latter delicately reflected up onto the cyclorama. There was a bank of four white bleachers in the back for the non-lead dancers to rest and watch, or ungulate along with the main focus phrase. Suspended above the seating were 15 bronze bells of various sizes, a few of which were sounded during the show. Lively recorded music, by another female collaborator Prema Ramamurthy, and vocals accompanied all pieces.
Ragamala Dance Company photo by Kyle Flubacker.
Three dancers served as attendants in white, circling and accenting the stage with poses like half moon and crescent, sometimes walking on water, throughout the three main stories: “Darshanam, To See and Be Seen;” “Liquid Shakti;” “The Purification of the Living and the Salvation of the Dead.” The eight principal dancers were women clad in a gloriously warm and lush palette of yellow, orange, red, plum, maroon and magenta. Ankles were encircled by bells, and hair was in tight buns wrapped in white flowers by costumers D.S. Aiyellu, Carole Bruns Couture, and Ranee.
Creators/directors/choreographers Ranee and Aparna, along with choreographic assistant Ashwini, had the dancers use full-body articulation to share each story in the rituals for the patron deity Shiva. Using crisp movements, hands became sacred cows being led to the water or indicated long hair being let down, knees were often akimbo and highlighted the pleated scoop skirts in the front and zouave pants in the back. Eyes and necks darted side-to-side for the dancers to coquettishly affirm their attractiveness in pieces that were mostly upbeat and joyful. The “pass-the-mic” feeling allowed each segment to flow seamlessly from dance to dance, also echoing the flow of water, time and lives. The themes of remembrance, respect and celebration, through the trials of water and fire, are timely after so many pandemic losses.
Harris Theater’s next dance event is Akram Khan’s
Creature by the English National Ballet, running February 24-26.
