Doug Varone presents Stripped May 6

Doug Varone and Dancers' popular series of intimate studio showings entitled Stripped continues with its fourth installment on Friday, May 6 at 8pm at the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center. Presented without theatrical lighting and costumes, these pared-down, informal showcases provide a first-hand look at the company's artistic process, drawing them viscerally into Varone's choreographic world.

Varone will present the first section of his seminal work Ballet Mécanique (2001) which he is reconstructing for next year's season. Set to the pulsating score by iconoclastic composer George Antheil, Ballet Mécanique intertwines dance and technology to create a dramatic work of potent imagery. The program also includes a new solo piece titled Fate as well as the Bessie-Award winning piece Boats Leaving which was hailed as a "masterpiece" by Bloomberg News when it premiered in 2006. Returning to the repertory after a two year absence, Varone will talk about the process of its creation following its performance.

Continuing to showcase Carrugi, a work-in-progress that is being developed over the course of the 2010-11 Stripped series, the program will feature two new sections of this piece which is inspired by the local architecture of this Liguria region. The dance visually and architecturally rises and falls against the beauty of selected Italian arias and operatic choral selections.

Completing the program, special guest artist James Ciano, a finalist at the 2011 Urban Word Poetry Slam, joins the company to perform one of his poems.

Doug Varone and Dancers
Stripped
Friday, May 6, 2011 at 8pm
92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center
1395 Lexington Ave.
Tickets: $20 in advance, $25 cash at the door.
A cash bar will be available.
Please note that the program is subject to change.
For more information or to order tickets, go to www.dougvaroneanddancers.org/stripped.php or call 212-279-3344.

Doug Varone and Dancers receives major support from the Alphawood Foundation, the Lila Wallace Theater Fund, the Trust for Mutual Understanding, the Shubert Foundation, the Charles and Joan Gross Family Foundation, Meet the Composer, American Music Center, the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, the Harkness Foundation, the Jerome Robbins Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, National Performance Network, the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.