Limón Dance Company at The Joyce
Company:
Limón Dance Company
Works by José Limón, Colin Connor, Francesca Harper
Dancers: Jacqueline Bulnes, Terrence Diable, Angela Falk, David Glista, Gregory Hamilton, Jesse Obremski, Eric Parra, Frances Samson, Savannah Spratt, Lauren Twomley, Mark Willis, Mariah Gravelin (apprentice)
Guest Artists: Miki Orihara, Stephen Pier, Nona Hendryx
Company Rehearsal Director: Logan Frances Kruger
"Limón is a pillar of American modern dance. The work of the Mexican-born choreographer is celebrated for its proud nobility, palpable spirituality and high drama." - Brian Schaefer, The New York Times, Oct. 2015
Now in its 73rd year, the Limón Dance Company continues to garner fresh interest for its performances of both new works and American classics. The May 29-June 2 season at The Joyce Theater will feature two Limón classics: The Moor's Pavane and Psalm, along with The Weather in the Room by company Artistic Director Colin Connor; and Radical Beasts in the Forest of Possibilities by guest choreographer Francesca Harper, with an original score composed and performed live by Nona Hendryx.
Limón's seminal work The Moor's Pavane, drawn from Shakespeare's Othello, has been in the repertories of major companies around the world, including American Ballet Theatre, Royal Danish Ballet, and the Paris Opera Ballet. The revered quartet was created in the form of a Pavane and other dances of the high Renaissance, and set to music by Henry Purcell. "Limón had a theatricality and a gift for stylistic invention. Just think of The Moor's Pavane and gasp," wrote Clive Barnes in Dance Magazine , 2007. Former Limón principal dancer Clay Taliaferro, who danced the Moor under Limón's tutelage, has directed the work with a deep knowledge and intensity.
In 1965 Limón wrote that the artist's function was "to be the voice and conscience of his time." This belief was fully realized in his towering Psalm, (1967), remounted and set to a newly commissioned score by Jon Magnussen. Psalm takes as its point of departure the premise that according to ancient Jewish belief, all the sorrows of the world rest upon 36 men. In translating this into dance, the 36 men have been reduced to one, a striking figure of pure nobility. With this work, originally remounted by Carla Maxwell, the Company celebrates her 38 years as Artistic Director.
Company Artistic Director Colin Connor will premiere his witty and atmospheric The Weather in the Room, featuring the powerful and mature guest artists Miki Orihara, longtime Martha Graham Dance Company soloist, and Stephen Pier, former soloist with the Limón Dance Company, the Hamburg Ballet, and the Royal Danish Ballet.
The digital world envelops the dancers in Radical Beasts in the Forest of Possibilities by guest choreographer Francesca Harper, created in collaboration with the iconic composer/performer Nona Hendryx, who will perform live. The creators brilliantly capture uncertainty and nervous energy, and the desire underneath it all to make real human contact.
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