BIOGRAPHIES

Doug Varone works in dance, theater, opera, film, television and fashion. By any measure, Varone's output is extraordinary for its emotional range, kinetic breadth, and the diversity of platforms on which he stages it. Recent commissions include University of Akron/EJ Thomas Hall (Alchemy), Bard Summerscape Festival (Victorious), the American Dance Festival (Boats Leaving – a multi-Bessie award winner), and Bottomland (Wolf Trap - critic's pick for Dance in America's "Wolf Trap's Face of America," nationally broadcast on PBS in 2008). Opera credits include Ricky Ian Gordon's Orpheus and Euridice (Lincoln Center, NYC), for which Varone was awarded a 2006 OBIE Award; Le Sacre du Printemps, Les Troyens, Salome and the world premiere of Tobias Picker's An American Tragedy (Metropolitan Opera); Die Walküre (Washington Opera); II Viaggio a Reims (New York City Opera); the American pre¬mieres of George Antheil's Transatlantic, and Ricky Ian Gordon's debut production of Grapes of Wrath (Minnesota Opera, Pittsburgh Opera and Opera Pacific); Gluck's Orfée et Eurydice and II Barbiere di Siviglia (Opera Colorado); Laurent Petitgirard's Joseph Merrick: The Elephant Man and the 2009 production of Gounod's Faust (Minnesota Opera). Theater credits include choreography for Broadway, at Baltimore's Center Stage, Yale Repertory Thea¬tre, Walnut Street Theatre, Princeton's McCarter Theater, Music Theater Group, The Vineyard Theatre, and Via Theater. He choreographed and di¬rected the Aquila Theatre Company's The Invisible Man. He staged several seasons of designer Geoffrey Beene's couture runway shows in NYC. Film credits include choreography for the Patrick Swayze film, One Last Dance. Varone has created works for the Limon Company, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Rambert Dance Company (London), Dancemakers (Canada), Batsheva Dance Company (Israel), Bern Ballet (Switzerland), An Creative (Japan), Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Colorado Ballet, and Ailey II, among others. His dances have been staged on more than 30 college and university programs. Born and raised in Syosset, NY, Varone received his BFA from Purchase College where he was awarded the Presi¬dential Distinguished Alumni Award in 2007. Honors also include a Guggenheim Fellowship and two New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie) for Sustained Achievement in Choreography, and for his 2006 Boat's Leaving. His work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts since 1988.

Julia Burrer joined the company in 2007. Other dancing credits: Megan Williams, Daniel Charon, Adriane Fang, Bill Young and Colleen Thomas, Teri and Oliver Steele, Gwen Welliver, pocket engine, Chimaera Physical Theater. Education: BFA, Purchase College, SUNY.

Ryan Corriston joined the company in 2005. Other dancing credits: Kaleidoscope Dance Company, the Metropolitan Opera, Nancy Bannon, Andrew Robinson, Tiffany Mills, Martha Clarke, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. Education: BA, University of Washington.

Natalie Desch joined the company in 2001. Other dancing credits: Limón Dance Company, the Metropolitan Opera. Education: BFA, The Juilliard School.

Erin Owen joined the company in 2006. Other dancing credits: Daniel Charon, Ivy Baldwin, Faye Driscoll, Melissa Briggs, Netta Yerushalmy, Karinne Keithley, Geraldine Cardiel, Bill T. Jones, David Neumann, the Metropolitan Opera. Education: BA, Scripps College.

Alex Springer joined the company in 2008. Other dancing credits: Alexandra Beller, Amy Chavasse, Lindsey and Jason Dietz Merchant, Peter Sparling, Leyya Tawil, Leopold Group, Umbigada Dance, alexanDance. Education: BFA, University of Michigan.

Eddie Taketa joined the company in 1994. Other dancing credits: Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Murray Louis Dance Company, Nikolais Dance Theatre, the Metropolitan Opera. Education: BFA, University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Netta Yerushalmy joined the company in 2007. Other dancing credits: Nancy Bannon, Karinne Kiethley, Marc Jarecki, Ronit Ziv, the Metropolitan Opera. Education: BFA, New York University.

ADJUNCT FACULTY

Merceditas Mañago-Alexander is originally from the Philippines where she had trained in classical ballet and was exposed to modern dance with Ballet Philippines from 1980 to 1986. She moved to New York in 1986 and her experience began with Eliot Feld and culminated with Doug Varone and Dancers from 1996 to 2001. Her time with DOVA taught her how to hone her technical abilities and combine it with honest, human presence on stage. She has also performed with Pepatian, Elisa Monte Dance Company, Ballet Hispanico of NY, and independent choreographers in NYC. Her most recent performance was with Joyce S. Lim and her explorations on Japanese Noh Theatre. Merceditas has also presented solo works with Danspace Project at St. Mark's Church, Dixon Place, Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX) and Free Range Arts. In the spring of 2010, she will be showing a work in process in collaboration with Aaron Alexander, at Judson Church/Movement Research Series. She is on faculty at Sarah Lawrence College, teaching ballet and contemporary movement. She has also taught at The AileyR School, Harkness Center for Dance at The 92nd Street Y, The Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Bates Dance Festival, NYU/Tisch School for the Arts, Marymount Manhattan College, Hunter College, Mark Morris Dance Center, Movement Research, and Dance New Amsterdam. She has a BA in Dance and Anthropology from Empire State College.

Peggy Baker, a student and protégé of Irene Dowd since 1985, is acclaimed as one of the most outstanding and influential contemporary dancers of her generation. In a career spanning 35 years she has performed with the companies of Lar Lubovitch, Doug Varone, Tere O'Connor, Molissa Fenley, Paul-Andre Fortier, and with Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project, among many others. Since her debut as a solo artist in 1990 she has mainly created and commissioned dances through her Toronto based Peggy Baker Dance Projects, collaborating with exceptional artists from a range of disciplines, most notably pianist Andrew Burashko. Her concerts have been presented at major dance venues across Canada, the U.S., Europe, and South East Asia. Artist-in-residence at Canada's National Ballet School, Ms. Baker is the recipient of numerous awards including a 2009 Governor General's Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Performing Arts. This is her eighth summer teaching with Doug Varone and Dancers.