Doug Varone dancer to lecture, teach during short residency

Featured dancer Natalie Desch, a member of the nationally acclaimed company of Doug Varone and Dancers, will present a lecture-demonstration at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7, in the Dance Theater at Skidmore College, and will teach master classes open to the public Feb. 4-8.

General admission to the Feb. 7 lecture/demonstration is $5. Tickets will be sold 45 minutes before the lecture-demonstration; advance reservations are not accepted. Call 518-580-5392 for information.

During her weeklong residency on campus Feb. 4-8, Desch will also guest teach in regularly scheduled Skidmore ballet and modern dance classes. The master classes are open to regional dancers at $10 per class and free to observers. For schedule details, call 518-580- 5360.

Since 2001, Desch has been a member of Doug Varone and Dancers, a company internationally acclaimed for its contemporary blend of daredevil athleticism and emotional intensity. The New York Times calls the troupe ?a company of ? profoundly human superhumans who dance on a dime ? wheeling, darting and slicing the air at lethal looking speeds.? The Dallas Morning News lauds the company?s ?wondrous language of movement?. all jab, fold, melt, spill, slash and spiral; an impossible blend of the sharp and intricate and the loose-limbed and wild.?

Since its debut in 1986, Doug Varone and Dancers has performed at major venues and festivals at home and abroad, including the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and the Jacob's Pillow and American Dance Festivals, as well as Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, Stanislavski Theater in Moscow, and the Venice Biennale, among others. The company?s numerous honors include eight New York Dance and Performance Awards (or Bessies), the American Dance Festival's Doris Duke Award for New Work, and three National Dance Project Awards.

A native of New Castle, Pa., Desch received a B.F.A. from the Juilliard School. She performed with the Lim n Dance Company from 1996 to 2001 and teaches regularly at the Lim n Institute. She has staged the works of Jos Lim n and Jiri Kylian for festivals, schools, and universities.