The 2023–24 season marks the company's 38th year. On the concert stage, in opera, in theater, and on the screen, Varone's kinetically thrilling dances make essential connections and mine the complexity of the human spirit.
On tour, the company has performed in more than 125 cities in 45 states across the US and in Europe, Asia, Canada, and South America. Stages include The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, San Francisco Performances, London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, Toronto's Harbourfront, Moscow's Stanislavsky Theater, Buenos Aires’ Teatro San Martin, the Venice Biennale, Marble Hall in Tokyo, and the Bates, Jacob's Pillow, and American Dance Festivals. In opera and theater, the company regularly collaborates on the many Varone-directed or choreographed productions that have been produced around the country.
Doug Varone and Dancers are among the most sought-after ambassadors and educators in the field. The company was selected to tour as part of the DanceMotionUSA(SM) program, a joint project between BAM and the US Department of State, touring, performing, and teaching in Argentina, Paraguay, and Peru for a month. This project culminated in the premiere of a new commissioned work for Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival, in collaboration with the Argentina-based Brenda Angiel Aerial Dance Company. Other BAM-produced seasons include Dense Terrain (2007), the 30th Anniversary Season (2016), and In the Shelter of the Fold/Epilogue (2019). For the past 20 years, the company’s annual summer intensive workshops at leading universities have attracted students and professionals from around the globe. The DEVICES Program, a mentoring initiative for emerging choreographers, began its pilot year in 2014. This unique program mentors 10 artists over the course of several months in the creation and presentation of new works. Other educational initiatives include Virtual Varone, a program that creates virtual residencies around the globe, and the Education/Performance Project which enfolds college dance students into the company’s repertory, directly sharing the stage with company dancers. The project has been a cornerstone in the company’s teaching and mentorship programs, creating an important dialogue with young dancers about their artistry and the affect they can have in the world today.
Varone, his dancers, and designers have been honored with 11 "Bessie" awards. The company’s creative output is as varied as Varone’s interests. Recent projects include everything is fine, a full evening movement play based on the poems of Billy Collins with a new score by David Van Tieghem, The Scrapbook, a digital journal of 10 films created and directed by Varone set to iconic songs from the 1940s–50s, Somewhere, Varone’s acclaimed non-narrative version of Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story, and To My Arms/Restore, set to Handel baroque music remixed with club beats. To learn more about the company, visit dovadance.org.
"Each creative process is a tremendously collaborative event with the dancers, embracing all of our imaginations, instincts, and artistry. My thanks and love to them for being such great, caring allies in the creation of the many dances that fall from my brain."
–Doug Varone
The Handel Dixit Dominus performed by the Bavarian Radio Chorus, Concerto Koln, Dijkstra, recorded on the BR Klassik label, is used by permission of Naxos USA.
Handel: Renee Fleming; the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, conducted by Henry Bicket is used with permission by UMusic, Inc.
Enemies in Love / Arias & Duets by Handel (Natalia Kawalek; Jacub Jozef Orlinski, vocalists)
Handel Remixed was commissioned and premiered by Festival Voices.
Doug Varone and Dancers’ programs are supported in part by Jody and John Arnhold, The Bulova Gale Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Doris Duke Performing Artist Awards, Dubose and Dorothy Heyward Memorial Fund, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Gladys Kreible Delmas Foundation, Harkness Foundation for Dance, Howard Gilman Foundation, the New York Community Trust, O’Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation, SHS Foundation, Vapnek Family Fund, and Shubert Foundation, as well as public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature. We also gratefully acknowledge our many individual supporters.