The Limón Dance Company Announces Virtual Season at The Joyce Theater

Limón Dance Company is continuing to honor the legacy of its co-founder by celebrating its 75th Anniversary with two weeks of on-demand performances streamed as part of The Joyce Theater's Spring/Summer Season May 6 -19. Tickets for all performances will be $25 per household and can be purchased at www.Joyce.org or by calling 212-242-0800.

The program features Suite Donuts (2020), a contemporary new work by choreographer Chafin Seymour and two of Limón's masterpieces, The Moor's Pavane (1949) and There is a Time (1956). The pairing of these works now seems fortuitous. Recent events which have raised awareness of social consciousness and racial justice make this group of dances, all the more relevant today.

Originally aired on December 19, 2020 and hosted by the newly appointed Artistic Director, Dante Puleio, the performance marked the conclusion of a three week residency at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park.

The Moor's Pavane incorporates nobility, deceit, seduction, and innocence, in a way that could only be achieved in dance. Based on Shakespeare's "Othello", Limón created a work that addresses the power of rumor, lies, and racism -motifs that continue to resonate in today's world. The stately and formal choreography provides a stark contrast to the emotional and passionate characters in this tragic story.

Limón's widely acclaimed, There is a Time, is choreographed to a Pulitzer Prize winning score by composer Norman Dello Joio. The dance was inspired by a passage from "Ecclesiastes": "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the sun," Through dramatically affecting dancing, There is a Time conveys a powerful sense of unity and community. It evokes the breadth of the human experience and the cyclical nature of life.

Choreographed for the Limón Dance Company, Suite Donuts is by contrast, a contemporary piece with an urban groove that was co-commissioned by the American Dance Festival with support from the Doris Duke/SHS Foundations Award for New Works. Mr. Seymour, a native New Yorker who now lives in California and teaches at San Jose State University, was set to premiere his work as part of the Limón Company's program at the 2020 American Dance Festival before the pandemic derailed the plan. His new endeavor is danced to an eclectic mix of music that ranges from classical (Erik Satie), to hip hop (Slum Village), to the contemporary works of composer Miguel Atwood Ferguson.

Mr. Seymour recently described his aesthetic and style:

"I firmly believe in the possibility of dance to contain emotion, narrative, cultural and intellectual relevance while still entertaining an audience. Using movement and music to create environments and tell stories, my work tends to rest on a thin line somewhere between classically inclined and extra bold."

Like José Limón, Mr. Seymour derives his movement from a resilient relationship to gravity, the inevitable fall and effort to rise. His compelling hybrid movement vocabulary stresses physicality and musicality

The evening is dedicated to Betty Jones, who was a founding member of the José Limón Dance Company and integral part of the Limón family.

Guided by the health and safety guidelines established by the Center for Disease Control, the rehearsals and performance of this presentation took place in a "bubble residency" at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park. Everyone involved followed a community agreement created by Kaatsbaan, the José Limón Dance Foundation and the Company's performing artists in residence.

All voice narrations in this virtual performance are subtitled.