Encore Magazine
http://www.encoremag.com
by Mary Staub December 2008
For some reason modern dance, unlike theater, classical music or literature, is often thought of as fleeting, ephemeral, disposable. But just like any art form, modern dance has a heritage that can, and should, be kept alive.
The Limon Dance Company, celebrating the centennial of Jose Limon’s birth this year, does just that. During their two-week season at the Joyce Theater this December, their program weaves together past, present and future.
“We have a history and classics in dance,” says Carla Maxwell, the artistic director of the company. “Yes, we need to keep stretching the limits, but we also need to recognize that we have living documents. If it’s a good work, it needs to be seen. People don’t think we should throw Mozart, Beethoven, Bach and Debussy away. We listen to a piece of music many times. We need to treasure the works we’ve made in dance just the same.”
In this vain, the company will perform Limon’s classic “The Moor’s Pavane” and excerpts from his “A Choreographic Offering,” an homage to his mentor, Doris Humphrey. His lesser-known, but equally powerful and pertinent “The Traitor,” from the 1950s, has also been re-created. Like so many of Limon’s works, “The Traitor,” which Limon wrote in response to the McCarthy hearings, looks to literature, history and religion for inspiration. Here, it is the Christ-Judas tale of betrayal.
But the Limon Company was always about more than Limon himself, and from the start worked under a repertory concept that presented works by company members and contemporaries such as Anna Sokolow. Sokolow’s 1955 piece, “Rooms,” was re-created under the direction of Sokolow disciple Jim May for the company’s current season.
As for the present and future, former company member Clay Tallaferro’s new work, his first for the company, “Into My Heart’s House,” will have its New York premiere in December. It’s based on Tallaferro’s own ties to Limon, which began when he, as a young man in Virginia, saw Limon perform on television. Tallaferro was stirred to his soul and inspired to dance. He met Jose Limon and joined his company many years later. “Into My Heart’s House” is work that, like so much of Limon’s own, may deserve to be seen again in years to come.
“It’s a journey of different events that keep unfolding, take you places and leave you saying, ‘What’s next?’” Maxwell commented. “[After attending its world premiere in Los Angeles this fall,] Donald McKayle said, ‘Beautiful, I want to see more.’”
by Mary Staub December 2008
For some reason modern dance, unlike theater, classical music or literature, is often thought of as fleeting, ephemeral, disposable. But just like any art form, modern dance has a heritage that can, and should, be kept alive.
The Limon Dance Company, celebrating the centennial of Jose Limon’s birth this year, does just that. During their two-week season at the Joyce Theater this December, their program weaves together past, present and future.
“We have a history and classics in dance,” says Carla Maxwell, the artistic director of the company. “Yes, we need to keep stretching the limits, but we also need to recognize that we have living documents. If it’s a good work, it needs to be seen. People don’t think we should throw Mozart, Beethoven, Bach and Debussy away. We listen to a piece of music many times. We need to treasure the works we’ve made in dance just the same.”
In this vain, the company will perform Limon’s classic “The Moor’s Pavane” and excerpts from his “A Choreographic Offering,” an homage to his mentor, Doris Humphrey. His lesser-known, but equally powerful and pertinent “The Traitor,” from the 1950s, has also been re-created. Like so many of Limon’s works, “The Traitor,” which Limon wrote in response to the McCarthy hearings, looks to literature, history and religion for inspiration. Here, it is the Christ-Judas tale of betrayal.
But the Limon Company was always about more than Limon himself, and from the start worked under a repertory concept that presented works by company members and contemporaries such as Anna Sokolow. Sokolow’s 1955 piece, “Rooms,” was re-created under the direction of Sokolow disciple Jim May for the company’s current season.
As for the present and future, former company member Clay Tallaferro’s new work, his first for the company, “Into My Heart’s House,” will have its New York premiere in December. It’s based on Tallaferro’s own ties to Limon, which began when he, as a young man in Virginia, saw Limon perform on television. Tallaferro was stirred to his soul and inspired to dance. He met Jose Limon and joined his company many years later. “Into My Heart’s House” is work that, like so much of Limon’s own, may deserve to be seen again in years to come.
“It’s a journey of different events that keep unfolding, take you places and leave you saying, ‘What’s next?’” Maxwell commented. “[After attending its world premiere in Los Angeles this fall,] Donald McKayle said, ‘Beautiful, I want to see more.’”
