Award-Winning Doug Varone and Dancers Comes To San Jose's Hammer Theatre with SOMEWHERE

Award-winning choreographer Doug Varone's NYC-based dance company Doug Varone and Dancers comes to the Hammer Theatre Center in downtown San Jose October 29 & 30, to present an evening of three stunning works: Somewhere, Lux, and Octet.

Performed to Leonard Bernstein's iconic West Side Story orchestral score, Somewhere is Varone's version of West Side Story as pure dance, stripped of its narrative associations. Met with critical acclaim, the Santa Barbara Independent called it, "destined to become a classical work of contemporary dance. The entire work stands as a testament to [Varone's] prolific creation of movement."

Also on the program is Lux, considered one of Varone's masterworks, set to Philip Glass' composition The Light, described by The Washington Post as "what dancing really feels like, the kind of dancing [one] might dream about: loose and sweeping in a spirit of exultation." The evening rounds out with Varone's intimate and vivid Octet, set to Philip Glass' exquisite Violin Sonata, which will feature the SJSU Dance Department performing with Varone and Dancers.

Doug Varone and Dancers will appear 7:30pm, Friday, October 29 & 7:30pm, Saturday, October 30 at the Hammer Theatre Center, 101 Paseo De San Antonio, San Jose. For tickets ($35-$45) or more information, the public may visit hammertheatre.com or call (408) 924-8501.

In accordance with current city mandates, Hammer Theatre Center will require proof of full vaccination for all patrons to attend any performance or event. Attendees must provide their vaccine card, either paper or a digital copy, showing their name and date of final shot (must be two weeks prior), and a corresponding photo ID. All patrons and staff will also be required to mask indoors until further notice. Hammer Theatre's COVID FAQs are available here: https://hammertheatre.com/faq/.

For more than 30 years, Doug Varone and Dancers has devoted itself to the humanity and virtuosity of dance, reaching audiences well beyond the proscenium arch. Lauded by The New York Times as "Thrilling," and "Doug Varone's ornate movement tends to crackle like electricity," the company has been commissioned and presented to critical acclaim by leading international venues and is the recipient of 11 Bessie Awards. Doug Varone and Dancers has toured to more than 125 cities in 45 states across the US and in Europe, Asia, Canada, and South America, on stages including The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York City Center, San Francisco Performances, London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, Toronto's Harbourfront, Moscow's Stanislavsky Theatre, Buenos Aires' Teatro San Martin, the Venice Biennale, and the Tokyo, Bates, Jacob's Pillow, and American Dance Festivals. It has also earned a vaunted reputation as a leading educator in the field, with sought-after residencies, intensive workshops, and mentorship programs that train the next generation of artists and dance-makers.

In the concert dance world, choreographer Doug Varone has created a body of works globally, with commissions including the Paul Taylor American Modern Dance Company, Limón Company, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Rambert Dance Company (London), Martha Graham Dance Company, Dancemakers (Canada), Batsheva Dance Company (Israel), Bern Ballet (Switzerland), and An Creative (Japan), among others. In opera, Varone is in demand as both a director and choreographer. Among his four productions at The Metropolitan Opera are Salome with its Dance of the Seven Veils; the world premiere of Tobias Picker's An American Tragedy; Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps, designed by David Hockney; and Hector Berlioz's Les Troyens. He has staged multiple premieres and new productions for Minnesota Opera, Opera Colorado, Washington Opera, New York City Opera, and Boston Lyric Opera, among others. Varone's numerous theater credits include choreography for Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional theaters across the country, while film credits include choreography for the Patrick Swayze film, One Last Dance. Career highlights include directing and choreographing MasterVoice's production of Dido and Aeneas, starring Tony Award winners Kelli O'Hara and Victoria Clark, and staging Julia Wolfe's Pulitzer Prize winning oratorio, Anthracite Fields, featuring the Bang on a Can All-Stars and the Westminster Choir. Numerous honors and awards include a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, an OBIE Award (Lincoln Center's Orpheus and Euridice), the Jerome Robbins Fellowship at the Bogliasco Institute in Italy, and two individual Bessie Awards. In 2015, Varone was awarded both a Doris Duke Artist Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Dance Guild. Varone teaches workshops and master classes around the world for dancers, musicians, and actors. He received his BFA from Purchase College, where he was awarded the President's Distinguished Alumni Award in 2007 and currently serves on the faculty, teaching composition.

Owned by the City of San Jose and operated by San Jose State University, the Hammer Theatre Center is a state-of-the-art performance venue located in the heart of downtown San Jose at 101 Paseo De San Antonio, between 2nd and 3rd Streets. The 528-seat theatre has presented an array of offerings including outstanding professional productions, community-based works, SJSU shows, and concerts, as well as dance, music, talks, film screenings-even live aerial performances with dancers suspended outside, scaling the sides of the iconic blue building. From jazz performances to mariachi extravaganzas, the popular National Geographic Live! speaker series to the acclaimed National Theatre Livefilm screenings, Cinequest film festival presentations, ballet and modern dance shows, kid-friendly performances, live art and more, the Hammer's mission is to serve the community through artistic and educational programming that express the unique characteristics and diverse cultures of Silicon Valley.

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