Lauren Warnecke

1 week ago | chicagotribune.com | Lauren Warnecke

It starts where “In the Upper Room” ends. The opening image of Twyla Tharp’s newest dance, “Slacktide,” is a single dancer, facing upstage, a beam of white light illuminating only his forearm. He slowly, methodically, closes his fist and draws his elbow down toward his waist. It’s a fist pump. A transposition of the final moment in Tharp’s 1986 tour de force.

2 weeks ago | chicagotribune.com | Lauren Warnecke

Three upcoming, monumental dance events, all with deep ties to Chicago, are on a collision course with your calendar. But it is possible to see the Joffrey Ballet, Twyla Tharp and Parsons Dance next weekend — and you should. Parsons DanceDavid Parsons launched his dance company in 1985. Three years later, he opened the season at Columbia College Chicago. “For some reason, they gave us a white limousine,” Parsons said in a recent phone interview. “I remember that gig.

1 month ago | chicagotribune.com | Lauren Warnecke

Ragamala Dance Company of Minneapolis returned to the Harris Theater this week for the third time, bringing their latest production, “Children of Dharma,” for one performance only on Friday. It’s gorgeous, though “Children of Dharma” isn’t quite as opulent as “Written on Water” or “Fires of Varanasi,” performed for Ragamala’s first and second visits to the Harris in 2019 and 2021. “Children of Dharma” is a bit more restrained without going so far as to feel minimalistic.

1 month ago | nprillinois.org | Lauren Warnecke

GLP-1 medications like Ozempic have been used to treat type II diabetes for two decades. More recently, the drug has been an effective weight loss tool for overweight and obese individuals — so effective it could influence the country’s economy. Weight loss can have secondary cardiovascular benefits, but new research suggests GLP-1s may have a direct impact on heart health, too, with anti-obesity drugs among the American College of Cardiology’s top five trends in cardiovascular medicine for 2025.

1 month ago | chicagotribune.com | Lauren Warnecke

“A scene ends in blackout and suddenly the stage is ablaze with a burnished, orange sun. Out come the women, in white frocks and wide hats, their hands aflutter in a desperate, probably losing battle to stave off the heat.