After nearly 22 years of groundbreaking residencies and the creation of dozens of critical new works of contemporary dance, Santa Barbara DANCEworks will be taking its final curtain call after the conclusion of this year’s residency with Doug Varone and Dancers, when founder and executive director, Dianne Vapnek retires.

“Doug was the very first choreographer invited to SUMMERDANCE. He was the best choice I could have made to launch the festival. Now, he is helping me wrap up and complete our history. I am grateful for his generous support,” said ­ Vapnek.

SUMMERDANCE Santa Barbara began welcoming choreographers to create new work and interact with the community in 1997. It existed as a dance festival for 10 years. DANCEworks evolved from the SUMMERDANCE experience of providing choreographers, during their festival residence, with time and space to create new work.

SUMMERDANCE built relationships with the contemporary choreographers it presented from 1997-2006 including Varone, Doug Elkins, Larry Keigwin, Mark Dendy, Tere O’Connor, Tamango, Aszure Barton and Brian Brooks.

The combined feedback from these artists expressed value for their SUMMERDANCE residencies to their professional careers and ignited the idea to provide a month-long creative residency with few demands on their time. Thus, DANCEworks, and its extended residency format at the Lobero Theatre, was born.

DANCEworks is an innovative collaboration between SUMMERDANCE Santa Barbara and the Lobero Theatre Foundation designed to offer notable choreographers a month-long residency in which to create, rehearse and premiere a brand new work on the Lobero stage.

DANCEworks enjoys broad recognition within the world of contemporary dance and has contributed to the careers of groundbreaking modern choreographers: Barton, Keigwin, Elkins, Dendy, Brian Brooks, Adam Barruch, Shannon Gillen and Kate Weare.

The choreographers Vapnek has brought to the Lobero stage have been exemplary. It has been a creative endeavor with an intimacy that matches the Lobero Theatre.

No two residencies have been the same, posing some wild and memorable challenges for the Lobero staff, from managing two tons of rubber mulch to sourcing 50 pairs of combat boots.

“We’re honored to work with Dianne, and very proud to have added something valuable to the modern dance community,” said David Asbell, exective director of the Lobero Theatre Foundation.

Award-winning choreographer and director Varone and his New York City-based company Doug Varone and Dancers are currently in residence at the Lobero Theatre through Sept. 7. While in residence, Varone will create an original work of contemporary dance set to Leonard Bernstein’s iconic musical score of West Side Story.

Varone will strip the orchestral score of its narrative connotations and reimagine the movements purely on the choreographic energy generated by its sounds and musical structure designed to create unique physical and visual environment. Lux, a work created during an earlier SUMMERDANCE residency, will be on the same program.

Tickets for the DANCEworks 2019 performances featuring Doug Varone and Dancers Sept. 6-7 are on sale at Lobero.org. Tickets are $40 for Section A, $25 for Section B, and $15 for students. (Students must present valid ID at will call).

A limited number of VIP tickets are available for $106 and include a post-show cast party onstage after the Saturday evening performance. Children under 18 are free to attend with the purchase of a full price ticket; must call Lobero box office to reserve.

DANCEworks provides opportunities for the community to get involved throughout each residency:

DANCEworks’ Friday Club has been popular with fans of contemporary dance in Santa Barbara. Friday Club offers an opportunity to see a New York choreographer create an ambitious new work. A contribution of $150 or more provides weekly access to rehearsals and discussions about the work before enjoying a reception with Varone and his company. Friday Club will be held 5-6:30 p.m. Aug. 30 at the Lobero Theatre.

Varone, an award-winning choreographer and director, works in dance, theater, opera, film and fashion. Doug Varone and Dancers has been commissioned and presented to critical acclaim by leading international venues for over three decades. On tour, the company has performed in more than 125 cities in 45 states across the U.S. and in Europe, Asia, Canada and South America.

In the concert dance world, Varone has created a body of works globally. Commissions include the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Limón Company, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Rambert Dance Company (London), Martha Graham Dance Company, Dancemakers (Canada), and Batsheva Dance Company (Israel).

His honors and awards include a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, an OBIE Award (Lincoln Center’s Orpheus and Euridice), the Jerome Robbins Fellowship at the Boglaisco Institute in Italy, two individual Bessie Awards, and a Doris Duke Artist Award.

In 2015 Varone received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Dance Guild. The company was in residence as part of SUMMERDANCE Santa Barbara in 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2007.

DANCEworks is sponsored by The Towbes Family Endowment for Dance, The Towbes Foundation, and the Dianne & Daniel Vapnek Family Foundation.

DANCEworks is funded in part by the Events and Festivals Program using funds provided by the city of Santa Barbara in partnership with the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture, and by the Santa Barbara Independent.

— Angie Bertucci for Lobero Theatre.