The New York premiere of CARRUGI is part of Doug Varone and Dancers’ twenty-fifth anniversary celebration at the Joyce (photo by Cylia von Tiedeman)
Joyce Theater
175 Eighth Ave. at 19th St.
October 9-14, $10-$49
212-645-2904
www.joyce.org
www.dougvaroneanddancers.org
For twenty-five years, New York City-based choreographer Doug Varone has been creating works for opera, theater, film, fashion, and his company, Doug Varone and Dancers, which he started back in 1986. He’ll be celebrating his silver anniversary with a series of events that kick off this week with a six-day stand at the Joyce, where last year he brought his riveting Chapters from a Broken Novel. This time around he’s presenting a pair of programs, the first featuring the New York premiere of Carrugi, a dance opera with singers and musicians that examines duplicity and myth inspired by the pathways and labyrinths of Liguria in Italy, set to Mozart’s La Betulia liberate; 2001’s Ballet Mécanique, a groundbreaking twenty-six-minute multimedia piece for eight dancers that intertwines movement and technology, set to George Anthreil’s 1925 score and with projections by Wendall Harrington; and 1994’s Aperture, a work for three dancers that imagines life outside the frame of a photograph, set to Shubert’s Moments Musicaux, No. 2. The second program is highlighted by the world premiere of Able to Leap Tall Buildings, a duet with movement based on that of superhero dolls, set to Julia Wolfe’s “Cruel Sister”; 2006’s Bessie Award-winning Boats Leaving, with images adapted from photos in the New York Times and reproductions in an art book, set to Arvo Pärt’s “Te Deum”; and a reconstruction of 1993’s signature dance Rise, an investigation of structure built around John Adams’s “Fearful Symmetries” that changed the nature of Varone’s choreography. There will be a Dance Chat following the October 10 performance and a preshow discussion led by Amy Kail on October 11. In honor of the anniversary, Varone has created a series of videos, “Uncovering the Archives,” looking back at his repertoire; you can watch them here.