There’s nothing quite like the beauty of live performance, and especially the kinetic power of dance. That’s something Doug Varone—critically acclaimed and award-winning director and choreographer—understood from the second productions halted at the top of the pandemic in March 2020.

“The world shut down on us on March 12—we were literally preparing to go out on tour the next day, and all of that got cancelled,” Varone says.

Now, 596 days later, the NY-based Varone and his company return to the stage with a rare West Coast visit, bringing the vigor of their contemporary dance stylings planned for their spring 2020 tour to the Hammer Theatre Center this Friday and Saturday. 

Of course, over the last year-plus, Varone and his team haven’t taken off their dancing shoes completely. Rather, Varone quickly pivoted to virtual lessons and connections with his company, producing 10 short dance films that were widely shared out to partner colleges and universities to keep everyone on their toes.

“The crux of what we do and what we love to do is to make dances and get them out to the world, and of course, that was not possible,” Varone says. 

As the pandemic raged on, Varone and his dancers reassessed their work, considering ways to better realign pieces with the current state of the new world in a way that “feels vital.”

“The arts are so much of a salve of what we are as a society, and so many people learned that in the last year-and-a-half,” Varone says. “To be able to have live theater and live dance happening again is exciting, not just to people who usually partake in it, but to those who’ve never experienced it before. There’s an eagerness to get back to things.”

Hollis Bartlett began working with Varone nearly a decade ago, and he wasn’t going to allow the pandemic to stop his connection to the company or the artform. At the start of 2020, the company was developing new work in collaboration with students at SUNY Purchase. The team then had to quickly transition to digital education opportunities, with Bartlett and other company members continuing to build community from across screens.

“It’s through education that we foster community,” Bartlett says. “It creates this beautiful dialogue with the community that we’re in and really feeds the work that we do. We all felt so disconnected. I think all of our students felt the same way, so we did our best to create that sense of connection with one another.”

The weekend’s performance will focus on three compositions: “Somewhere,” “Lux” (considered one of Varone’s masterworks) and “Octet,” the last of which will feature members of the SJSU Dance Department. The first work, set to Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story,” premiered in Sept. 2019—the last time the company was on stage live prior to the pandemic shutdowns.

“Coming back together again was learning to shift where we were, and how to bring those new learned facets back to the studio,” he says. “We are very much a family—to not see members of your family for a year-and-a-half was very, very difficult. But the things that we cherished in our art form and in the work environment all remained the same. It was a powerful moment to find our way back to that.”

In July 2021, the company was able to reconvene in person to prepare for tour again. Bartlett says it was “refreshing” to return to the creative process with his fellow dancers, with Varone at the helm.

“That was a really beautiful way for us to return in person—the creative process of starting something new,” he says. “We weren’t quite picking up where we left off, but it was like seeing where things were left—through the chaos, seeing what was left. To see where we are and see where we can get back.”

Ultimately, in returning to the stage, Varone believes the audience will be enthralled by the work, as well as gain more respect for the optimism and beauty of dance as an artform.

“Every artist has been affected by the pandemic,” Varone says. “I believe all of the works that come from here will be extraordinary.”
Doug Varone & Dancers
Fri-Sat, 7:30pm, $35+
Hammer Theatre Center, San Jose

Colombian-American author Patricia Engel’s latest novel Infinite Country is a kaleidoscopic family drama centering on a family divided between the United States and Colombia, a meditation on biculturalism and the complex web of allegiances in relationships it creates. Engels will be speaking as part of a larger fundraiser for San Jose State’s excellent literary journal Reed Magazine, the oldest literary journal in the Western US, coinciding with the launch of its 154th issue. The livestream will also include a variety of prose and verse readings from the issue.

Patricia Engel
Thu, 5pm, Free
Virtual Event

Though San Jose isn’t high up on the list of cities one might associate with classical music, since 2015 the Cambrian Symphony has worked tirelessly to change that. Conductor Scott Krinjen approaches the works of Copland, Tchaikovsky and Barber with “pure intent”, hoping to highlight the thrill of the music and keep it light. Students and professionals play together, allowing these timeless classics to take on a more energized air. A registered non-profit, this group walks the walk when it comes to giving back to the community that birthed it, Hammer Theatre downtown warmly welcomes them on Saturday night.

New Beginnings
Sat, 7:30pm, Free
Hammer Theatre Center, San Jose

Founded in 1972, the Swiss mask theater group Mummenschanz made a name for themselves by doing a lot with a little. Dressed in black spandex suits, the performers practically disappear on the all-black stage, as the eye is drawn to the wild masks and colorful props the members use to accentuate and express the strangeness of human moods. The New York Times describes the troupe’s current tour, “You and Me,” as something akin to “the Muppets, but heavily influenced by French surrealism and a few psychotropics.”

Mummenschanz
Mon–Tue, 7:30pm, $40+
Hammer Theatre Center, San Jose

The New Ballet returns with its fourth installment of The San Jose Nutcracker, which puts a South Bay spin on the traditional tale of sugar plum fairies and animated toy soldiers. The upstart ballet company has found success by giving local audiences a heaping helping of San Jose history with their Tchaikovsky. For example, instead of a Christmas tree, a replica of San Jose’s iconic Light Tower grows out of the stage. This season, the show will feature a collaborative dance with Los Lupeños Juvenil, the youth division of the Los Lupeños folklorico group.

San Jose Nutcracker
Fri-Tue, 7pm & 2pm, $39.50+
Hammer Theatre Center, San Jose

With her band Le Bonheur, Storm Large performs holiday shows that are both naughty and nice. The early show, “American Songbook,” is intended for the general public; the late show, “Unbuttoned,” is for adults only. Fans of Pink Martini have likely seen Storm singing with that band; her solo shows cover the musical waterfront, from cabaret and jazz to rock and original songs, performed with a side of sauciness and sprinkled liberally with banter.

Storm Large’s Holiday Ordeal
Sat, 7pm & 9:30pm, $30+
Hammer Theatre Center, San Jose

Holding court over his kit, drummer and composer Kendrick Scott proves that percussion is about so much more than keeping time. On his 2016 composition, “Philando,” the Houston-born musician improvises over an ambient drone and a recording of the Philando Castile shooting, heightening the emotional narration of Castile’s girlfriend Diamond Reynolds with swelling cymbals, rumbling toms and popping snares. Scott will perform with his band Oracle alongside guitarist Mike Moreno, pianist Taylor Eigsti and bassist Brandon Owens. The concert launches a new Hammer Theatre Center-San Jose Jazz collaboration, the Black Cab Jazz series.

Kendrick Scott
Sun, 7pm, $20+
Hammer Theatre Center, San Jose

Recognized as one of the world’s foremost chamber ensembles, the Shanghai Quartet has collaborated with the likes of cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Peter Serkin. In honor of its 35 years of touring, the group will be performing on four exceptional and rare instruments built by Gofriller Guarneri and Stradivari. They are known for performing traditional Chinese folk music alongside Western masterpieces and contemporary works. This Saturday’s program will feature a string quartets by Haydn, Tan Du and Semtana.

Shanghai Quartet
Sat, 7:30pm, $35+
Hammer Theatre Center, San Jose

The Mozart family was blessed with more than one musical prodigy. But Amadeus’ sister Nannerl, a.k.a. Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia, got lost in the history books. Sylvia Milo, an actress and violinist, wrote and stars in this one-woman play that brings her back to life. Milo performs the play in and on an 18-foot dress. The show runs Sep. 26-27. Students and other members of the San Jose State University community get in for $19. Tickets for seniors are $22.

The Other Mozart
Thu-Fri, 7:30pm, $25
Hammer Theatre Center, San Jose

While on the road with Spank! The Fifty Shades of Grey Parody, Danielle Trzcinski and Amanda Barker encountered an audience they’d never fully considered—grown-ass women hitting the town with their besties and reveling in female camaraderie. On that tour, Trzcinski and Barker came across thousands in search of a truly special girls’ night out. So, the pair put pen to paper and brought Little Black Dress to the stage. Written for women by women, this musical follows friends Mandy and Dee through the ups and downs of life, including job interviews, dates, awkward sexual encounters and more.

Little Black Dress
Hammer Theatre Center
Thu, 8pm, $40+