With the now traditional “welcome” party Sunday Aug 18 in the beautiful verdant gardens of founder and driving force Dianne and always supportive husband Daniel Vapnek’s SB residence, Danceworks Santa Barbara 2019 with Doug Varone and Dancers is now officially underway. This always joyous occasion was also when Dianne announced this year’s will be the last Danceworks, mentioning that Doug was the first artist invited to participate in Summerdance (the precursor to Danceworks launched 22 years ago), and now he and his dancers will bring to a close her acclaimed and unprecedented experiment in fostering dance on the west coast. Attendees were treated to good eats and drinks as well as hearing Mr. Varone talk about his new work “Somewhere,” inspired by Leonard Bernstein’s orchestral score for the iconic movie “West Side Story,” and a chance to mingle with Doug and dancers Aya, Brad, Courtney, DeQuan Lewis, Hollis, Jake, Ryan and Whitney. The mixture of a little sadness and a lot of gladness made for a bit more meaningful evening in a magical place. The Final Year is off and running at full speed.
