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Founders: José Limón and Doris Humphrey
Artistic Director: Dante Puleio
Executive Director: Juan José Escalante
Rehearsal Director: Kurt Douglas
The Company’s performance showcases two dances by José Limón which are considered among the 20th Century’s greatest works of modern choreography presented alongside a contemporary new piece Suite Donuts by emerging choreographer Chafin Seymour. The pairing of these works now seems fortuitous. Recent events which have further raised awareness of social consciousness and racial justice make this group of dances, all the more important today.
Co-commissioned by the American Dance Festival with support from the Doris Duke/SHS Foundations Award for New Work.
Choreography: Chafin Seymour
Dancers: Joey Columbus, Terrence D. M. Diable, Ty Graynor, Eric Parra, Frances Samson, Jessica Sgambelluri, Lauren Twomley
Costume Design: Keiko Voltaire
Lighting Design: Brandon Stirling Baker
(Variations on the theme of Othello)
First performed August 17, 1949 at the American Dance Festival, Connecticut College by the José Limón Dance Company
Choreography: José Limón
Music: Henry Purcell, arrangement by Simon Sadoff
Costume Design: Pauline Laurence
Lighting Design: Brandon Stirling Baker
Dancers:
The Moor: Mark Willis
His Friend: David Glista
His Friend’s Wife: Mariah Gravelin
The Moor’s Wife: Savannah Spratt
José Limón, a Mexican Immigrant was understandably drawn to this tale of the fight for dignity, the destructive power of rumour, racism, and the disconnect between private and public faces. The Moor’s Pavane uncovers tensions and concerns that are central in today’s world.
First performed April 20, 1956 at the Juilliard School of Music by the José Limón Dance Company
Choreography: José Limón
Music: Norman Dello Joio
MEDITATIONS ON ECCLESIASTES, commissioned for José Limón by the Juilliard Music Foundation and its Festival of American Music, April, 1956. This score earned the composer the Pulitzer Prize in 1957. MEDITATIONS ON ECCLESIASTES (copyright 1959 by Carl Fischer, Inc.)
Staging and Direction: Dante Puleio and Kurt Douglas
Reconstruction Assistant: Savannah Spratt
Costume Design: Marion Talan de la Rosa
Lighting Design: Brandon Stirling Baker
**Special thank you to Raphaël Boumaila for virtually staging excerpts.
**Special thank you to Nina Watt for coaching Time to Laugh.
The entire work is, both choreographically and musically, a theme with variations. The choreographer used as his theme a large circle, which, at the opening of the work, fills the stage and moves majestically as if to evoke the interminable passage of time. This circle is seen repeatedly in many guises, rhythms and dramatic shapes, always making allusion to the text from Chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes and its evocation of human experience.
The Limón Dance Company (LDC) has been at the vanguard of dance since its inception in 1946. The first dance group to tour internationally under the auspices of the State Department, and first modern dance company to perform at the Lincoln Center in New York; it has performed twice at The White House. The José Limón Dance Foundation, with Company and Institute, was the recipient of a 2008 National Medal of the Arts. José Limón has a special place in American culture for a social awareness that transcended distinct groups to address how we all search for commonality. More than 40 years after his passing, his works continue to influence the evolution of the art form with their arresting visual clarity, theatricality, and rhythmic and musical life. With a fresh approach to making the classics alive for today, with works of José Limón, Doris Humphrey, Lar Lubovitch, Doug Varone, Donald McKayle, Susanne Linke, Meredith Monk and Jiří Kylián and other luminaries, the Company moves forward with new collaborations with emerging and acclaimed choreographers.
