Limon Dance Company

[sandik]

On a cheerful note -- you can watch the company in excerpts from the 2018 Pillow performance as part of the  Pillow's virtual festival for free.

[miliosr]

I've been rereading Pauline Koner's autobiography, Solitary Song, this summer. The chapter on Doris Humphrey is unintentionally revealing regarding the disappearance of the Humphrey repertory. As I read along, I kept a tally of the dances Humphrey created from 1946-1958 and Koner mentions:

Lament for Ignacio Sanchez Meijas (1946)

Day on Earth (1947)

Corybantic (1948)

Invention (1949)

Night Spell (1951)

Fantasy and Fugue (1952)

Ritmo Jondo (1953)

Ruins and Visions (1953)

Felipe el Loco (1954)

Airs and Graces (1955)

Theatre Piece No. 2 (1956)

Dance Overture (1957)

Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 (1958)

The last time the Limon company performed any of these dances was in 2006, when Day on Earth and Lament for Ignacio Sanchez Meijas were revived. The latter was supposed to be revived in excerpt perform this summer but, other than that, the Humphrey repertory is non-existent at Limon.

Edited November 18, 2020 by miliosr

[miliosr]

The Limon Company has announced on its Instagram account that founding company member Betty Jones has died. Jones was a key member of the company for two decades -- she was the original Desdemona in The Moor's Pavane -- and taught the Limon technique for decades.

Daniel Lewis wrote of her: "In the rocky period after Doris [Humphrey's] death, a quiet, steady development in Limon technique had been taking place at Juilliard with Betty Jones, Ruth Currier, Lucy Venable and June Dunbar adding some of their own ideas and helping Jose refine the technique. Betty Jones became the principal tutor in . . . teaching students how to move efficiently and properly, using the length of the muscles, and teaching the principles of alignment and breathing as developed by Lulu Sweigard, a pioneer in the field of movement analysis. [I]n Betty's [classes], they learned how each part of the body relates to a central axis and how to use the central axis to balance and suspend."

[miliosr]

Dance Magazine has published this tribute to Betty Jones:

Former Limón Star and Teacher Betty Jones, 94, Has Died - Dance Magazine

 

[miliosr]

The New York Times has published an obituary for Betty Jones:

Betty Jones, Founding Member of Limón Troupe, Dies at 94 - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

 

[dirac]

I'm sorry I missed this update. Only today I ran across an obit for Jones and was going to post it, and obviously you beat me to it, miliosr. She looks like a perfect Desdemona.

[miliosr]

8 hours ago, dirac said:

I'm sorry I missed this update. Only today I ran across an obit for Jones and was going to post it, and obviously you beat me to it, miliosr. She looks like a perfect Desdemona.

The Limon company livestreamed a performance from Kaatsbaan last Saturday night and they dedicated the performance to Betty Jones. The livestream also included a brief feature about her long career as a dancer with Limon and as a teacher of the technique.

I didn't write about the performance because this thread attracts so little attention that there was no point to it. I registered for the livestream so I'm still able to access it on Vimeo until Wednesday. I don't know if it's freely available on Vimeo otherwise -- it might be.

[dirac]

Thank you, I will have a look. I would like to see that.

 

[Kathleen O'Connell]

5 hours ago, miliosr said:

I don't know if it's freely available on Vimeo otherwise -- it might be.

It is! Here's the link:  https://vimeo.com/494232574

It will be available until Wednesday, December 30 at 10pm.

Here's the program:
The Moor’s Pavane (1949) by José Limón
Suite Donuts (2020) by Chafin Seym (Co-commissioned by the American Dance Festival with support from the Doris Duke/SHS Foundations Award for New Works.)
There is a Time (1956) by José Limón

[miliosr]

danceviewtimes has reviewed the livestreamed performance:

To Everything There is a Season - danceviewtimes