Doug Varone (born ) is an American choreographer and director. He works in dance, theater, opera, film and fashion. He is an educator and advocate for dance. His company, Doug Varone and Dancers, has been performing for over three decades.
Education
Varone received his BFA from
Purchase College, where he was awarded the President’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2007.
Choreography
Varone created many works for the concert dance stage. His commissions include works for the
Paul Taylor Dance Company
Paul Taylor Dance Company is a modern dance company, formed by dancer and choreographer Paul Taylor (1930—2018). The modern dance company is based in New York, New York and was founded in 1954.
Taylor originally performed in the companies of M ...
, the
Limón Company, the
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago is a contemporary dance company based in Chicago. Hubbard Street performs in downtown Chicago at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance and at the Edlis Neeson Theater at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Hub ...
, the
Rambert Dance Company
Rambert (known as Rambert Dance Company before 2014) is a leading British dance company. Formed at the start of the 20th century as a classical ballet company, it exerted a great deal of influence on the development of dance in the United Kingd ...
(London), the
Martha Graham Dance Company
The Martha Graham Dance Company, founded by Martha Graham in 1926, is both the oldest dance company in the United States and the oldest integrated dance company. The company is critically acclaimed in the artistic world and has been recognized as " ...
, the
Dancemaker
''Dancemaker'' is a 1998 American documentary film directed by Matthew Diamond about the career of choreographer Paul Taylor. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Walter Scheuer, one of the producers, was a longti ...
s (Canada), the
Batsheva Dance Company
The Batsheva Dance Company (Hebrew: להקת בת שבע) is a renowned dance company based in Tel Aviv, Israel. It was founded by Martha Graham and Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild in 1964.
Its inception was inspired by Israel's growing inter ...
(Israel), the Bern Ballet (Switzerland) and An Creative (Japan). Varone's dances have been staged by more than 75 college and university programs.
In opera, Varone has served as a director and choreographer. Among his four productions for
The Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred to colloquially as the Met, the company i ...
are ''Salome'' (with its ''Dance of the Seven Veils'' for
Karita Mattila
Karita Marjatta Mattila (born 5 September 1960) is a Finnish operatic soprano.
Mattila appears regularly in the major opera houses worldwide, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House in London, Théâtre du Châtelet, Opéra Bastil ...
), the world premiere of
Tobias Picker
Tobias Picker (born July 18, 1954) is an American composer, pianist, and Conductor (music), conductor, noted for his orchestral works ''Old and Lost Rivers'', ''Keys To The City (orchestral work), Keys To The City'', and ''The Encantadas (orches ...
’s ''An American Tragedy'' and
Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...
’s ''Le Sacre du Printemps'', designed by
David Hockney
David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English Painting, painter, Drawing, draughtsman, Printmaking, printmaker, Scenic design, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considere ...
. His MET Opera production of
Hector Berloiz’s ''Les Troyens'' was broadcast worldwide in HD. Varone staged multiple premieres and new productions for the
Minnesota Opera
Minnesota Opera is a performance organization based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was founded as the Center Opera Company in 1963 by the Walker Art Center
The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill ...
, the
Opera Colorado, the
Washington Opera
Washington National Opera (WNO) is an American opera company in Washington, D.C. Formerly the Opera Society of Washington and the Washington Opera, the company received Congressional designation as the National Opera Company in 2000. Performance ...
, the
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through its 2013 bankruptcy, and again since 2016 when it was revived.
The opera company, dubbed "the peopl ...
and the
Boston Lyric Opera
Boston Lyric Opera (BLO) is an American opera company based in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1976. BLO is the largest and longest-lived opera company in New England. BLO employs nearly 350 artists and creative professionals annually—vocalist ...
, among others. His theater credits include choreography for
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...
,
Off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
and regional theaters. His choreography for the musical ''Murder Ballad'' at the
Manhattan Theater Club
Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) is a theatre company located in New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. Lynne Meadow has been the company’s Artistic Director and visionary since 1972. Barry Grove joined the company in 19 ...
earned him a
Lortel Award nomination. Varone's film credits include choreography for the
Patrick Swayze
Patrick Wayne Swayze ( ; August 18, 1952 – September 14, 2009) was an American actor, singer, songwriter, and dancer. Known for his romantic, tough, and comedic roles in blockbusters and cult films, Swayze was nominated for three Golden Glob ...
film ''
One Last Dance''. In 2008, Varone’s ''Bottomland'', set in the
Mammoth Caves of Kentucky, was the subject of the
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
broadcast ''Dance in America: Wolf Trap’s Face of America''.
Teaching
As an educator, Varone holds workshops and master classes worldwide for dancers, musicians and actors. He is on the faculty at
Purchase College, teaching composition and choreography.
Recognition
Varone's honors and awards include:
*
John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated dis ...
*
OBIE Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...
(for the direction/choreography of Lincoln Center’s ''Orpheus'' and ''Euridice'')
* Jerome Robbins Fellowship at the Boglaisco Institute in Italy
* Two individual
Bessie Awards
The New York Dance and Performance Awards, also known as the Bessie Awards, are awarded annually for exceptional achievement by independent dance artists presenting their work in New York City. The broad categories of the awards are: choreography, ...
* Two American Dance Festival Doris Duke Awards for New Work
* Four National Dance Project Awards.
References
Sources
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External links
Doug Varone and DancersArchival footage of Doug Varone and Dancers performing Castles in 2009 at Jacob's PillowArchival footage of Doug Varone performing The Bench Quartet in 2003 at Jacob's Pillow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varone, Doug
American male dancers
American choreographers
Living people
1950s births
Year of birth missing (living people)
Bessie Award winners
State University of New York at Purchase alumni