Suffice it to say, all roads not taken! Although, truth be told I am lustful about making new dances; I do grow lilies in my garden; and I do have a family of dancers that I travel around the world with… Well, you get the drift.

So what really is happening with Doug Varone as 2010 approaches?  Let me make a list for you:

• 2009 was a wonderful mix of touring and creating. We traveled three continents and across the U.S., including our critically acclaimed return to Jacobs’ Pillow. Our 10^th Summer Workshop was our most successful and the NYC season at the Joyce Theater brought us home after a two-year absence.

• The Company is enjoying its third year in Residence at the 92 Street Y, where we create and rehearse daily. The Harkness Dance Center is celebrating its 75th Anniversary and I am very proud to be part of its heritage.

• Our new studio series Stripped is a HUGE success! We are having a great time dancing old works and sharing new ones in the intimate studio atmosphere, giving everyone a rare chance to get close to the work, the Company, and the process.

• The creation of Chapters from a Broken Novel continues. Along with composer David Van Tieghem, we are mapping out a unique suite of dances that can be seen in various combinations. The work is beginning to take shape and we have been sharing segments with curious audiences at Stripped each month.

• The Company continues to spread our legacy by touring and staging numerous works with professional companies and college dance departments across America. We are looking forward to performing in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, LA and College Park, MD.

• We are inaugurating our first Winter Intensive Workshop in NYC.  Based on our successful Summer Workshop, this week-long series is another opportunity for immersion into our work and process.

• I am curating and co-producing Alumni choreography as part of the Harkness Dance Festival, March 12-14, 2010 with works by Gwen Welliver, Nancy Bannon and Daniel Charon. 

• As the Company’s 25^th Anniversary approaches, we are both creating new works and reconstructing major dances such as the acclaimed Ballet Mécanique (2001).

While this is a grand list already, I know we’ll keep adding more to it as the year progresses.

Taking artistic risks is imperative for us in order to forge new artistic ground and the Company enthusiastically meets that challenge every day in the studio. We are revitalizing our commitment to the dancers by providing health insurance, a rarity in our field.  Our Board of Directors wholeheartedly supports this effort. Thanks to them we are also engaging in a Strategic Plan that will usher us securely and wisely into the future.

As audience members and donors, you are close to us in ways that few are. Every donation you make nourishes the Company and allows us to imagine the new ideas that we return to you as fully realized art.  As the holidays roll around, please consider making a donation or volunteering your time to support us.

Check our web site after November 30^th for our online holiday auction - a fun and unique way for you to shop for gifts and support the Company. While there, join our email list to stay up to date on the events I listed as they approach.

I hope that, as part of our extended family, you will be able to join us for our performances and special events in 2010.

On behalf of everyone here, I send all my best to you, as we enter a new year,

Doug