onStage at Connecticut College presents Doug Varone and Dancers on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 7:30 p.m. in Palmer Auditorium.
The company, celebrating its 30th anniversary, will perform “ReComposed,” a visual dance inspired by American abstract artist Joan Mitchell’s pastel drawings. As Varone has explained, “With gestural, sometimes violent brushwork, Mitchell described her paintings as ‘an organism that turns in space.’ I recognize this visceral energy within my own dance making, creating human moving landscapes that hauntingly echo Mitchell’s explosions on canvas.”
The evening’s program will also include the celebratory “Lux” and “The Fabulist,” a profoundly personal solo piece danced by Varone, who has said he portrays an Everyman in the work to allow viewers to see their own experiences reflected.
Varone is in high demand as a choreographer, known for creating works with emotional range and kinetic breadth. His dancers bring that range and kineticism to life with their astonishing technical prowess. Together, they have been honored with 11 New York Dance and Performance Awards. “There is such lyricism in his movement and choreography and his dancers have an uncanny ability to translate that in their performances,” said Director of Arts Programming Robert Richter ’82 said. “I think of his company and his work as being very accessible modern dance that can be appreciated by dance aficionados and dance novices.”
Richter brought Doug Varone and Dancers to campus in 2006, and notes that Varone’s choreography has been performed by students in the College’s celebrated dance program.
“Doug Varone is not only a tremendous dancer and choreographer, he’s also a passionate advocate for dance education,” said Richter. “He does a lot of work off the stage to help audiences understand how dance is created.”
In fact, Varone will conduct an educational showcase called [STRIPPED] at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum on Thursday, Oct. 22, at 5 p.m. In [STRIPPED], Varone and his company present a detailed look into the intricacies of how dances are created and performed.
For more information, visit the Lyman Allyn website. Tickets for the onStage performance are $28 for general admission, $25 for seniors and $14 for students. Tickets can be purchased online, by phone at 860-439-ARTS (2787) or via email to onstage@conncoll.edu.