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Doug Varone and Dancers will perform for free at George Mason University on April 25 after withdrawing from a 40th-anniversary engagement at the Kennedy Center scheduled for the same weekend.
The New York dance company will appear in the concert hall at GMU’s Center for the Arts, located at 4373 Mason Pond Drive in Fairfax. Tickets are required but will be offered at no cost.
Center for the Arts donors and season subscribers can reserve tickets beginning Wednesday at 10 a.m. Tickets become available to the general public Friday, Feb. 6, at 10 a.m.
GMU College of Visual and Performing Arts Dean Rick Davis said the newly added performance reflects the university’s commitment to supporting modern dance in the region.
The program is still being finalized, with details expected closer to the performance date.
Company withdrew after Kennedy Center renaming
Doug Varone and Dancers had been scheduled to perform April 24 and 25 at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater. The anniversary program was set to feature three repertory works by Varone, an award-winning choreographer and director whose career spans dance, theater, opera and film.
The company announced Dec. 29 that it would cancel those appearances after Kennedy Center trustees appointed by President Donald Trump voted to add Trump’s name to the venue.
The dancers had previously opposed the Trump administration’s takeover of the Kennedy Center, which included removing longtime leaders, replacing Democratic board members and electing Trump as board chair.
Despite those objections, the company initially planned to honor its Kennedy Center dates out of respect for Washington-area audiences and former dance-programming officials Jane Raleigh and Alicia Adams, who curated the season before losing their positions.
Varone said the renaming ultimately drove his decision to withdraw. He also criticized what he described as a steep decline in artistic quality following the leadership change and the dismissal of employees responsible for the center’s programming.
The renaming faces legal and congressional challenges. The Kennedy Center has also experienced a growing wave of artist cancellations, while reported ticket sales have fallen under its current leadership. Trump announced on Sunday, Feb. 1, that the venue would close for two years beginning in July for what he described as renovations.
Crowdfunding helped bring performance to Fairfax
Varone said nationwide crowdfunding support following the cancellation made the free Mason performance possible.
He noted that the company’s relationship with the Center for the Arts stretches back decades and expressed appreciation that GMU could add the performance to its calendar on short notice. The event, he said, will allow the dancers to thank supporters for the response they received after leaving the Kennedy Center program.
Doug Varone and Dancers most recently visited GMU’s Fairfax campus for a weeklong residency in March 2023. That visit concluded with a performance involving students from Mason’s School of Dance. The company also collaborated with Mason students in 2017.
Dareon Blowe, who worked with the company during the 2023 residency and graduated later that year, has since joined Doug Varone and Dancers professionally. Blowe is scheduled to perform in the April 25 show.