INTERVIEW: Limón dancers are set to explore NYC
Photo: Limón Dance Company will perform in Manhattan and Brooklyn during the month of May. Photo courtesy of Allison Armfield / Provided by RRR Creative with permission.
For decades, dance enthusiasts have had the chance to experience the world-renowned Limón Dance Company at the legendary Joyce Theater in Chelsea, Manhattan. This month, New Yorkers who don’t live near Chelsea will have the chance to see the choreographic works perhaps a little closer to home. Starting May 3 and continuing until May 19, Limón will take their art form on the road around the Big Apple, with performances in West Harlem (May 3 and 6 at City College’s Aaron Davis Hall), Tribeca (May 11 at The Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust) and Sunset Park, Brooklyn (May 18-19 at Green-Wood Cemetery).
For the unbeknownst, Limón Dance Company has been around since the 1940s, and today keeps alive the spirit and choreography of José Limón. At the helm of the company is artistic director Dante Puleio, who once danced with the company. As his biography states, Puleio “focuses on contextualizing mid-20th century dance for the contemporary artist and audience. He is committed to implementing that research by celebrating José Limón’s historical legacy and reimagining his intention and vision to reflect the rapidly shifting 21st century landscape.”
For this season of dance, Puleio was after something different.
“We always have our season with the Joyce,” Puleio said in a recent phone interview. “But I wanted to go into different parts of Manhattan, so we’ll be in Harlem. Then, we’ll be downtown at the Jewish Heritage Museum, and then we have an outdoor performance at Green-Wood Cemetery. So we’re kind of going across the board.”
One notable work that will be performed both at Aaron Davis Hall and Green-Wood Cemetery is “A Choreographic Offering,” Limón’s work dedicated to his mentor, Doris Humphrey, who was the first artistic director of the dance company.
“We’ve got some new costumes, and we’ve got some beautiful new lighting,” Puleio said of “A Choreographic Offering.” “We’re doing a section that hasn’t been shown in a long time, so we’ll get to really experience the new work in a fresh, new way. … We’ll also be doing ‘Dances for Isadora,’ which he made for Isadora Duncan, a beautiful piece on five female solos, and then we’re also doing ‘Orfeo.’ And this one we’ll be doing down at Green-Wood Cemetery, so we’ll be outdoors. And we’ll be surrounded by these mausoleums, and we’re really going into this work like being inside of where this work will take place, like Orpheus and Eurydice going into the underworld to bring her back. So being immersed in that space, I think, will give us a new sense of the piece, and also with ‘Orfeo’ for the first time in its history we’re going to be doing a gender neutral casting. It’ll be like having the story from new perspectives. Like, who gets to really tell these stories of love and loss that is not always traditional?”
For the Green-Wood Cemetery show, which includes “A Choreographic Offering” and “Orfeo,” there are some additional risks and concerns because the entire performance will be staged outside in the beautifully atmospheric cemetery.
“I am hoping and praying to the dance gods that it does not rain,” Puleio said. “Lighting for that piece will be a little bit different because we’ll be outside, and then they’re creating and building a stage for us. Normally we have something like a typical proscenium, but with this, there’s no hiding. There’s no proscenium. There are no curtains to hide behind, so you really get this raw sense of the work, which is not something we get to do so often. So it’s going to be a new experience for the company as well because we haven’t done that in a while.”
Puleio’s move to take Limón to other areas of New York City is part of the company’s larger mission to open up access to new dance audiences. As artistic director, he wants to make sure that no one is unable to experience Limón’s vision, whether that’s “Orfeo” at Green-Wood Cemetery or “Psalm” at The Museum of Jewish Heritage.
“Maybe someone in that part of Brooklyn may know of Limón, but they’re not going to make the trek up to Midtown or Harlem or any other part of the city because it’s a pain,” Puleio said. “People work hard for a living, and on Friday, maybe you don’t feel like going into the city to see a show sometimes. So let me bring the work to you, and so next time you do see Limón, you are inspired. ‘Oh my God, I just saw them last year. It was amazing. Yes, I will go travel them to see them now.’ So it’s this way of really engaging people who may love the work and know the work but haven’t seen us in a while.”
Puleio never sees it as a burden that he is leading a dance company with decades of excellence. In his mind, the dancers, the choreographers and the audience are all on the same team.
“We all want to see it continue to grow and get bigger and better and have more impact,” he said. “How that happens, people have different opinions on. I like to take big chances and do different things with it, to see how people respond to looking at these works in new ways. So far I’ve been really lucky, and people have been really positive with it. But that’s always the fear. We’re going to take a big chance and do a new costume or do a new lighting, what is the response going to be? And so many people have danced these works, so when we reconstruct them, it’s like, is it being done this way or this way? What are we thinking about? What do we think the actual intention of the work is? That may be nuanced for each person who has lived inside of the work.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Limón Dance Company will perform in three different venues around New York City, May 3-19. Click here for more information and tickets.
