Jose Limon Biography

Jó Jose Limon-- (January 12, 1908 – December 2, 1972) Jose Arcadio Limon was born January 12, 1908 in Culiacán, Mexico. Jose was the first of 11 other siblings in his family. In 1915 Jose and his family moved to the United States. After Jose graduated from Lincoln High School, in California he entered the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) as an art major. Limón moved to New York City in 1928 after a year at UCLA. It was here that he saw his first dance program, "What I saw simply and irrevocably changed my life. I saw the dance as a vision of ineffable power. A man could, with dignity and towering majesty, dance... dance as Michelangelo's visions dance and as the music of Bach dances." Jose then began to study under Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman. Limon's talent was immediately evident and he began performing with Humphery and Weidman's company from 1930- 1940 and started choreographing himself. After ten years with the company, Jose Limon served in World War II and after, decided to start his own company, the Limon Dance Company in 1947 with Doris Humphrey was his artistic director. Jose's choreography shows a modern dance expression, defined structures. His works seem to be very athletic and dramatized. One of his most celebrated works; The Moor’s Pavane (1949) a haunting dance based on Shakespeare's Othello. His many other dances include La Malinche (1949), There Is a Time (1956), and The Unsung (1970). In 1950 his company became the first major U.S. modern dance group to perform in Europe; four years later it traveled to South America, and subsequently it toured worldwide. Limón’s choreographic works were quickly recognized as masterpieces and the Company itself became a landmark of American dance. Many of his dances—There is a Time, Missa Brevis, Psalm, The Winged—are considered classics of modern dance. Limon was an active choreographer until his death. He choreographed at least one new piece each year and was also an influential teacher and advocate for modern dance. He was in residence each summer at the American Dance Festival, a key faculty member in The Juilliard School's Dance Division beginning in 1953, and the director of Lincoln Center's American Dance Theatre from 1964-65. Limón received two Dance Magazine Awards, the Capezio Award and honorary doctorates from four universities in recognition of his achievements. He was the subject of a major retrospective exhibition at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, The Dance Heroes of José Limón (Fall 1996), and in 1997 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the National Museum of Dance in Saratoga Springs, NY. His autobiographical writings, An Unfinished Memoir, were edited by Lynn Garafola and published in 1999 by Wesleyan University Press. Today the José Limón Dance Foundation maintains an active dance company as well as facilities for teaching, licensing, and other activities. Jose Limon Institute The Jose Limon Institute is the official school of the Limon Dance Company. The technique is based on principles of weight, fall and recovery as established by Jose Limon and his mentors, Doris Humphrey and Chalres Weidman. Students can study classical American modern dance through the Limon technique, in-depth, with current and former members of the company such as: Joe Alegado, Colin Connor, Alan Danielson, Laura Flowers, Gary Masters, Jim May, Joh-Mario Sevilla, Risa Steinberg, Malou Thein and Kathy Wildberger. The large studio at the Institute allows for students from all over the world to study composition, performance skills and repertory through several workshops. The Limon technique can also be studied at Dance Space and Peridance.-- www.ny.com/dance/joselimon.html Limon Dance Company Site:

http://www.ny.com/cgibin/frame.cgi?url=http://www.limon.org/&frame=/frame/dance.html

Sources: www.limon.org,en.wikipedia.org/wiki/José_Limón,José Limón — Infoplease.com

Personal Profile-- About Me

What is the world like around you?

The world around me seems to always be going, with a busy schedule of school, work, family, boyfriend, and friends. I choose to still live at home to save money. I have a semi- large family, so there’s always someone around. With a new semester at school life and scheduling is crazy. I need organization to survive. I get to see my friends and competition everyday. I teach at a local studio, nearby my house, which is demanding yet a great time to teach little ones my passion. Time with my boyfriend is quite precious, seeing we are both so busy. The world around me seems fast paced, and competitive. I usually try to remain un-stressed and think about things in the long run and how this “busy now” will aid in my future.

What is your dance lineage?

I was put in dance at the young age of two, danced at various studios around time. I trained for several years at the Milwaukee Ballet School, and Danceworks throughout high school. After high school, I knew college was in my future so I decided to become a dancer major and further expand my dance knowledge. So far I’ve learned so many great things. I’ve had the opportunity to work with Alberto Del Saz, from the Nikolais Loius Foundation, that was a great experience! And I am currently working in a piece with Ed Burgess, which is just as exciting and fun. My influences are mostly my teachers, and the things they teach me. The world around me also affects my influence in creating works.

What are your interests?

My interests in dance can vary. I love seeing new things that I’ve never seen before. I like organic movement and enjoy fun and comedic works. Strong technique is also a plus, to watch. I really enjoy gestural and pedestrian movement. There’s something about seeing stuff that people do everyday, in a new form on stage. I think most people can closely relate to movement that they can or usually do. I love the works of Hubbard Street Dance, and Batsheva Dance Company. My teacher, Ed Burgess really interests me. His tone of movement is an attraction. I’m interested in things that look unusual or abstract. Creating a curiosity for the audience is fun.

Why should “the public” care about your work?

I think “the public” should care about my work because I feel that I would never just do anything without a purpose. My goal would be to attract people to my work and make it entertaining/interesting to all types of people. One goal in my works would be to please the audience or “the public” and create something I’d feel means a lot to me, and invest a lot of myself into, so I’d hope because of that they’d care about my work. More than just the “public” wanting to appreciate my work, it would be very important to me to have my community, classmates, and teachers care about my work. My community because they are the most local viewers, and I’d hope they’d support me. My classmates, because they are the working alongside me, we are here to support each other. And my teachers, because they are my inspiration.