Limón Gala
It's not often that a performance goes perfectly, as it did on May 15 at the Limón 60th Anniversary Gala. Performing in a large bare space, without constricting wings, minimal lighting, and bleachers for the audience, the Limón Dance Company performed at its peak of artistry. One can see a Limón work again and again and still discover new things about its construction, its use of space, its powerful theatricality, and most of all, its musicality. Limón didn't choreograph to the music, nor did he, like Balanchine, visualize the music. He absorbed it. Miraculously, under the artistic direction of Carla Maxwell, the company of thirteen dance as one enjoying the richness of their legacy.
There were special moments in the opening: An excerpt from "A Choreographic Offering," (1964) commissioned by the American Dance Festival in memory of Doris Humphrey, a contemporary of Limón, who based his movements on her lyrical style, dances, variations, paraphrases and motifs. It was performed by the entire company with energy and style. A suite from "Heartbeats," (1997) by Donald McKayle, to songs "that flow from the deep regions of the heart," gave the group another challenge...ethnic rhythms. "He Mele Aloha (Hawaii) danced by five male dancers burst into space; Brenna Monroe-Cook danced a moving, "Johnny Has Gone for A Soldier (Civil War song) with tender anguish; from Portugal, "Que Deus Me Perdoe" gave Kurt Douglas and Francisco Ruvalcaba a dance of comradeship; and Roxane D'Orléans Juste in "Oneero" a Greek non-stop dance of joy brought her unstoppable, vigorous, tireless capacity to a memorable height.
A musical interlude included a piano work of Albeniz performed by Blair McMillan and two original works, "Song for Lisa" and "Name Song for Donald" by Jon Magnussen were composed and performed for the occasion as musical portraits.
Then back to Limón's "Psalm" (1967) restaged by Maxwell with a newly commissioned score by Jon Magnussen, first performed in 2002. According to Jewish tradition, all sorrows of the world rest within 36 Just Men called the Lamed-Vov. The dance is the history of one Just Man, as performed by Raphaël Boumaïla. The work is so profound, it could be interpreted as an anti-war protest, as well as an outcry against man's inhumanity.
The Limón Institute, the official school, offers classes at the Peridance Center in New York City. West and East coast summer programs for professionals and pre-professionals as well as intensive workshops and other programs can be accessed at www.limon.org.