Leaping on laurels
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Catch Limon - America's finest |modern-dance company - in action
In its first half century, the Limon Dance Company notched up many important milestones: it was the first group to tour under the auspices of the American Cultural Exchange Programme (1954); the first dance troupe to perform at the Lincoln Centre (1963); and it had the honour of appearing twice at the White House (1967 and 1995).
More recently, the company was awarded a 2008 National Medal of Arts, the United States’ highest honour for artistic excellence.
To celebrate its 65th anniversary, the troupe has put together a stunning programme for its show on October 12 during Bangkok’s 14th International Festival of Dance and Music at the Thailand Cultural Centre.
The programme spans some six decades of great dance making while honouring Jos Limon’s incalculable contributions to both the company he co-founded, in particular, and modern dance, in general.
Beginning with a classic that debuted at the Julliard Music Foundation in 1956, the composer Carl Fischer later winning a Pulitzer Prize for the score, “There is a Time” starts the programme. The work incorporates a large circle as a reference point in order to evoke the cycles of life from the Biblical Book of Ecclesiastes: “To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven / A time to be born and a time to die / A time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted / A time to kill and a time to heal.”
Limon’s Mexican heritage, which is where this dance style originated. The music, however, provides another counterpoint – it’s based on a stirring work by Bach. In this dance, Limon has tried to capture both the formal austerity and the profound feelings of the music.
Showcasing the company’s versatility, the third work of the evening is “The Moor’s Pavane”. Though subtitled “Variations on a theme of Othello”, this dance is not intended as a choreographic version of Shakespeare’s play. In the form of a pavane and other dances of the high Renaissance, the legend is told of the hapless Moor, his wrongfully suspected wife, the Moor’s treacherous friend and his wife. The four characters portray the tragedy of “Everyman”, so the dance is timeless in its implications.
After an intermission, the troupe returns to wow the crowd with a newer work choreographed by Rodrigo Pederneiras, and featuring music by Paquito D’Rivera, called “Come With Me”.
The choreographer said: “I was honoured to be invited to collaborate with the Limn Dance Company and Paquito D’Rivera. The initial idea was to work with movement, taking into account the Latin characteristics and combining them with jazz and classical techniques; to give more emphasis to volumes, spatial treatments and the most important movement dynamics, thus making a distance to theatrical interpretations.”
The company’s co-founder and choreographer Doris Humphrey (1895-1958) has been recognised as one of the pioneers of American modern dance. Together with Jos Limon (1908-1972), renowned for his masculine dancing and dramatic choreography, they electrified the dance world.
One of the 20th century’s most important and influential dance makers, Limon spent his entire career pioneering a new art form as well as fighting for the recognition and establishment of American modern dance.
The festival is sponsored by Bangkok Bank, B Grimm, Dusit Thani Bangkok, The Nation Group, Nivea, SCG, Singha, Thai Airways International, Tourism Authority of Thailand, and Toyota Motor Thailand.
New heights
- Limon Dance Company performs on October 12 at 7.30pm at at the Thailand Cultural Centre
- Tickets are available at ThaiTicketMajor. Call (02) 262 3191.
- For more information, go to www.BangkokFestivals.com.
