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By Christine Jowers/Follow @cmmjowers on Instagram
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Published on June 4, 2025
Limón Dance Company in Aszure Barton's "Join." Photo: R. Termine
Presented by the 92NY in association with the José Limón Dance Foundation, Inc.
Founders: José Limón and Doris Humphrey
Artistic Director: Dante Puleio // Associate Artistic Director: Logan Frances Kruger
Executive Director: Michelle Preston
The Company: Natalie Clevenger, Joey Columbus, Ian Debono, MJ Edwards, Mariah Gravelin, Johnson Guo, David Keingatti, Deepa Liegel, Ty Morrison, Olivia Mozie, Eric Parra, Jessica Sgambelluri, Savannah Spratt, Lauren Twomley
Choreography: Doris Humphrey, José Limón, and Aszure Barton ( world premiere)
Music: Nikolai Karolovich Meitner, Gian Francesco Malipiero, Normal Lloyd, Henry Purcell. Ambrose Akinmusire
May 21, 2025
Celebrating its 79th year at the 92Y's Kaufmann Concert Hall, the Limón Dance Company continues to captivate audiences with a striking blend of physical vibrance and emotional depth. This powerful, elegant, and all too brief run featured early 20th-century repertoire classics by José Limón and his mentor, Doris Humphrey, alongside a breathtaking world premiere by contemporary choreographer Aszure Barton.
I've seen Doris Humphrey's Two Ecstatic Themes (1931) performed many times, but I've never regarded it as anything more than a lesson (and a rather dry one) illustrating Humphrey's movement principles of fall and recovery. Jessica Sgambelluri's interpretation has changed my perspective on this work. Sgambelluri transforms each theme from an abstract exercise (performed because "it's good for you to know your dance history") into a human experience we can connect with.
As she gently descends in a circular motion toward the ground, we sense her resignation. As she begins her staccato ascent, we follow and root for her success. Her ultimate stance — legs wide and grounded, torso lifted, arms extended in a high triangle above her head — signals triumph. The 2024 lighting design by Liz Schweitzer and the beautifully-fitted, serene white costume contribute to Sgambelluri's radiance, enhancing the pleasure of this six-minute experience. On opening night, at the dance's conclusion, the audience, myself included, erupted in wild applause.
La Malinche (1947) is another work that never spoke to me initially. But, this beautifully costumed trio resonates in a 2025 reconstruction by Risa Steinberg with company member Joey Columbus's assistance. The dance evokes Limón's early memories of Mexican fairs and the historical plays presented there. The tale of the revolutionary spirit, known as "La Malinche," is one of a Nahua princess who assisted Hernán Cortés in conquering Mexico for Spain. Caught between cultures, she was both exalted for aiding the conquistador and despised for her cooperation. Ultimately, after her death, she came to be viewed as an inspiration for Mexico's independence. This evening, Deepa Leigel plays the princess/La Malinche, Ian Debono, a new and fabulous addition to the group, portrays El Indio, and Johnson Guo, is El Conquistador.
The interest of this choreography lies in its depiction of two realities within a single dance. One reality reflects deeply felt experience, whether exalted, wounded by betrayal, or devastated at causing pain to a fellow citizen. The other reality emphasizes that all conquerors, queens, victims, and heroines are stock characters in a pervasive, overarching, and timeless tale. The dancers do a superb job of flipping universes. They draw us into the genuine human emotion of their story; then, the minute the carnivalesque mariachi music comes on, they instantly become cartoon versions of their characters.
Limón's The Moors Pavane (1949), a masterful distillation of Shakespeare's Othello, is widely regarded as one of the most influential works in American modern dance. Couched within an aristocratic courtly dance, this exploration of jealousy and betrayal delivers a searing punch even 76 years after its creation. While this evening's performance featured a more audibly breathy cast than I've ever experienced, the dancers were sublime, and the chandeliers framing the quartet added a lovely touch. (I reviewed this piece more thoroughly in 2019; if you'd like to read it, here's the link to the article.) I never tire of this work.
As Two Ecstatic Themes encapsulates Humphrey's (and then Limón's) essential language of fall and recovery, Join, a world premiere created by Aszure Barton, honors the essence of today's Limón dancer. Although I am unaware of any Humphrey-Limón background that Barton may have, she undoubtedly possesses a keen insight into the dance and humanistic values inherent to this company. It's as if, through her choreography, Barton conveys to the dancers that she truly sees and understands them. Her shimmering work comes across as a love letter in motion.
The company sometimes approaches us in patterned lines as if interwoven. We feel a sense of reverence and sensitivity toward the ground as their feet caress the floor. Their open palms emanate power and a desire to communicate. At other times, the dance groupings remind us of essential characteristics of Limón's oeuvre: the absorbing and seamless shift of architectural design, bodies released into gravity and resisting it, and the surprise and excitement of a change in rhythm or point of movement initiation. It's great fun to experience the joy of MJ Edwards as they buoyantly soar through the air when lifted or spun by the Limón tribe, their body a manifestation of pure joy. The sumptuous Join happens to the viewer unpredictably, yet easily, as profound and fleeting as any experience with those we truly care for can be.
