One way to describe Doug Varone’s works is, pedestrian. Pedestrian in the sense that he takes from life what he puts on stage. He can make movement out of how two people say hello. A lot of his focus is on relationships. Many different relationships and many different aspects of the relationships. I believe that is why his choreography is so intriguing and easy to relate to, because it is dancing of what we naturally do. His pieces tend to be more fast paced, athletic, and expansive. Although for things such as "Wolftrap's Face of America", his piece was very slow paced. It all depends on the relationship he is trying to convey. This video is a site specific work inside of Mammouth Cave, which was so amazing. It was all about pioneers, the struggles and how they affected each other. They then took their site specific dance and filmed it, and eventually brought it to the stage.
Varone's company dancing in Mammoth Cave
Varone's work impacts concert dance, because it has added athleticism that is not always a large part of modern dance. In pieces such as Lux, the dancers are running and jumping all around the stage, flinging their bodies, and exploding with movement. Also, since he has a way of showing relationships, he has brought abstraction in a natural sense to concert dance. Doug Varone and Dancers, his company, have many intriguing dances to check out on video.
This gives me something to think about when composing my own pieces. From an audience perspective, having meaning and intent gives everyone something to relate to. Personally, I want to convey something in my dances. It does not always have to be the largest political statement, but to make every movement express something that everyone will be able to relate to in a different way.
Honestly, I had heard the name "Doug Verone" before, but simply figured he was a Broadway choreographer or something. But wow! His work is stunning! I, too, am intrigued by how he puts so much relational connection into his movement choices. Even in the piece "Lux", although it is high-energy, ever-moving, and athletic, it still has that particular quality of personal connection amongst the dancers. That quality does seem unique to come by in the modern dance world of extremely abstract movements. I am so intrigued by his movement now, and I will be looking more into him! :)
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the performance videos on the WONDERFUL link provided, I can tell that Verone's work is very diverse in intent, yet similar in movement form, powerful yet somewhat pedestrian. I also see his tap background in terms of rhythm and, the cannons he uses with his dancers. Very entertaining; Good Job, Laura!
ReplyDeleteDoug Varone is such a fascinating choreographer and dancer. The ways in which he works with human relationships and pedestrian movement is unique and translates well to the stage and to the viewer. Having only seen one of his works before viewing this blog ("Wolftrap's: Face of America") I was intrigued to see other dances he has produced. By following the links provided, I was able to get a better sense of Varone as a dancer and choreographer. I enjoyed watching the piece in which his dancers fling themselves around the stage. This type of movement was so contrasting next to the slow, weighted movement done in the Wolftrap's piece.
ReplyDeleteDoug Varone's work speaks on a personal level and allows every viewer to come away from the experience with something special. His ways of working with high-athletic movement as well as relational themes carries something for audience members of every background. His work is exciting and I look forward to hearing more from this artist.
Your description of his work as pedestrian gave me an insight about his lineage in terms of being after the post-modern era. He is dealing with pedestrian movement and formal concerns (especially with music) and weaving classical modern dance and post-modern dance together in new ways.
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