Doug Varone ’78

Doug Varone ’78 has achieved international acclaim as a dancer, choreographer and artistic director. He has created more than 40 original works for the company he founded in 1986, Doug Varone and Dancers, as well as for dozens of other companies around the world. He works in dance, theater, opera, film and fashion. He is an educator and advocate for dance.

Varone has received numerous honors and distinctions, including: a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Choo-San Got Award, ten annual Felllowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the Off-Broadway Theatre Award, or “Obie,” the 1998 New York Dance and Performance Award, two individual Bessie Awards, the Jerome Robbins Fellowship at Boglaisco Institute in Italy, and two American Dance Festival Doris Duke Awards for New Work.

As an educator, Varone holds workshops and master classes worldwide for dancers, musicians, and actors. He is a member of the Purchase College faculty, teaching composition and choreography.