Composers. Color. Costumes. Sculptural forms. Pattern. Art. Emotion. Humanity. Movement. I think I love dance because it is the intersection of all of the art forms. Last Thursday evening at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, I had the pleasure of experiencing the work of Doug Varone and Dancers for the first time. As usual, it was the music that lured me to them. Possession, danced to Concerto for Violin and Orchestra by my über fave composer, Philip Glass, was warm and intimate and very human (an effect highlighted by the lighting.) Expressive hands were reaching, almost yearning — but for what? (Do we ever really know what we truly long for?) Folded, danced to Believing by Julia Wolfe, another fave composer, was danced on an almost tribal Flintstones pattern of gold lights on the dark floor. Against a backdrop of hazy purplish smoke, this duet was groovy and sleek, but also jittery and mod (and again, those expressive hands!) Lastly, while gorgeous pastel dual color fields shift (Doug Varone’s nod to the artwork of Joan Mitchell), a colorful and kinetic group of dancers presented the exhilarating and complex ReComposed to Michael Gordon’s frantically brilliant Dystopia. Again, I could not help but notice the expression in the dancers’ hands. I have never noticed hands in the quite the same way as I did during these dances. They were such an intentional part of the movement, and communicated immediate emotions. I suppose you are getting the distinct feeling that I enjoyed the evening’s performances? Well, you are absolutely right: hands down, it was a super night of dance.