Doug Varone and Dancers Presents DEVICES Choreographic Intensive & Mentorship Program Showcase

New York City's famed Doug Varone and Dancers will once again present the DEVICES: Choreographic Intensive & Mentorship Program Showcase from Thursday, August 10 - Saturday, August 12, 2017 at 7:30pm at Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, 280 Broadway (Entrance at 53A Chambers), NYC. Tickets are $12 in advance and $17 at the door, and will be available at https://gibneydance.org/performance/.

DEVICES showcases 12 original works (in process), developed under the mentorship of Doug Varone, by a diverse group of emerging artists, all at varied points in their careers. The evenings will feature works by Jee Ahn, Jennifer Boissiere, Rodney Brown, Alison Cook-Beatty, Doug Gillespie, Ilana Goldman, Charlotte Griffin, Carolyn Hoehner, Susan Koper, Teddy Tedholm, Morgan Teel, and Nichele Van Portfleet.

DEVICES: Choreographic Intensive & Mentorship Program is a one-on-one mentorship program with Doug Varone for experienced choreographers that took place from May 28 - June 2, 2017 at Hunter College. A unique program celebrating its fourth year, the entire scope of the mentorship is divided into three distinct parts over the course of several months. The program kicked off with a week-long intensive retreat at Hunter College wherein Doug shared ideas about craft, design and composition through finely honed creative games and devices in which an abundance of material is built quickly then carefully shaped and molded. Participants created studies using dancers selected by Doug and the Company. Company members served as guides and moderators throughout the week. Over the following months, Doug continues to mentor each participant one on one as they independently create a new work on their own dancers.

"I began the DEVICES program because I felt there was a lack of opportunity for emerging choreographers to continue their craft. This program gives them a safe haven to try new ideas and to lend a guiding eye to oversee their creative process. The diversity of artists that have participated the past three years has been wide ranging in both age and experience, building a rare community of dance makers at varied points in their careers." -Doug Varone

"DEVICES gave me the freedom to take risks and further develop my voice while receiving feedback from someone I respect and a group of talented peers." Participant, 2016

"The work I made in DEVICES jettisoned me to the next level as a choreographer." Selene Carter, 2014

"DEVICES is unlike any other intensive out there right now." AJ Sharp, 2015

"Because of DEVICES, I was able to take my choreography to another level." AJ Sharp, 2015

"DEVICES is like a creative think tank for choreographers, personally guided by the world renowned innovator, Doug Varone." Nyama McCarthy-Brown, 2015

DEVICES is made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Doug Varone, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Award-winning choreographer and director Doug Varone works in dance, theatre, opera, film, and fashion. He is a passionate educator and articulate advocate for dance. His work is known for its emotional range, kinetic breadth and the diversity of genres in which he works. His New York City-based Doug Varone and Dancers has been commissioned and presented to critical acclaim by leading international venues for three decades. In the concert dance world, Varone has created a body of works globally. Commissions include the Limón Company, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Rambert Dance Company (London), Martha Graham Dance Company, Dancemakers (Canada), Batsheva Dance Company (Israel), Bern Ballet (Switzerland) and An Creative (Japan), among others. In addition, his dances have been staged on more than 75 college and university programs around the country. In opera, Doug Varone is in demand as both a director and choreographer. Among his four productions at The Metropolitan Opera are Salome, the world premiere of Tobias Picker's An American Tragedy, and Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps, designed by David Hockney. His Met Opera production of Hector Berloiz's Les Troyens was broadcast worldwide in HD. He has directed multiple premieres for Minnesota Opera, Opera Colorado, Washington Opera, New York City Opera, and Boston Lyric Opera, among others. His numerous theatre credits include choreography for Broadway, Off-Broadway and regional theatres across the country. His choreography for 2012's musical Murder Ballad at Manhattan Theatre Club earned him a Lortel Award nomination. Film credits include choreography for the Patrick Swayze film, One Last Dance. In 2008, Varone's Bottomland, set in the Mammoth Caves of Kentucky, was the subject of PBS's Dance in America: Wolf Trap's Face of America. Last season, he directed and choreographed MasterVoices' production of Dido and Aeneas at New York City Center, starring Tony Award winners Kelli O'Hara and Victoria Clark, alongside the Company. Most recently, he directed the staging of Julia Wolfe's Pulitzer Prize winning oratorio, Anthracite Fields for the Westminster Choir and the Bang on a Can All-Stars. Varone received his BFA from Purchase College where he was awarded the President's Distinguished Alumni Award in 2007. Numerous honors and awards include a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, an OBIE Award (for Lincoln Center's Orpheus and Eurydice), the Jerome Robbins Fellowship at the Boglaisco Institute in Italy, two individual Bessie Awards, two American Dance Festival Doris Duke Awards for New Work, and four National Dance Project Awards. In 2015, Varone was awarded both a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Dance Guild. Varone teaches workshops and master classes around the world for dancers, musicians and actors. He is currently on the faculty at Purchase College, teaching composition and choreography.

Doug Varone AND DANCERS

The recipient of 11 Bessie Awards, Doug Varone and Dancers has toured to 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, New York City Center, San Francisco Performances, London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, Toronto's Harbourfront, Moscow's Stanislavsky Theatre, Buenos Aires' Teatro San Martin, the Venice Biennale, and the Tokyo, Bates, Jacob's Pillow and American Dance Festivals. In opera and theatre, the Company regularly collaborates on the many Varone-directed or choreographed productions that have been produced around the world. Doug Varone and Dancers continues to be among the most sought-after ambassadors and educators in the field. The Company's multidisciplinary residency programs take audiences deeper into the work, with a hands-on approach that moves beyond the studio to speak directly to people of all ages and backgrounds, both dancers and non-dancers alike. Our annual intensive workshops at leading universities have attracted students and professionals from around the country, and through our innovative DEVICES choreographic mentorship program, we are training the next generation of artists and dance-makers. Whether on the concert stage, in opera or theatre or on the screen, choreographer Doug Varone creates kinetically thrilling dances with rich musicality and emotional depth. From the smallest gesture to full-throttle bursts of movement, Varone's work can take your breath away with both its athleticism and its passion. www.dougvaroneanddancers.org

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