The Limón Dance Company, founded in 1946 by José Limón and Doris Humphrey, remains a cornerstone of American modern dance and one of the world’s most acclaimed troupes. Known for its dramatic expression, technical prowess, and enduring artistry, the company comes to the Irvine Barclay Theatre on Sept. 25 in a program of quintessential works by Limón and Humphrey.
“I had a conversation with Michelle Brouwer, the director of programming at the Barclay, and we leaned into an all-Limón program,” explained Dante Puleio, who danced with the troupe in the early 2000s, then again from 2007–2014, and became its sixth artistic director in 2020. “It’s kicking off the 35th season of the Barclay, and we’re entering our 80th anniversary year, [so] I wanted to give that audience a wide sense of who José was and why he made the works he made.”
The troupe will perform Humphrey’s short solo “Two Ecstatic Themes,” which Puleio described as an exploration of “the idea of fall and recovery.” Choreography by Limón on the program includes his Orfeo, a reimagining of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice set to a Beethoven string quartet, and Suite of A Choreographic Offering, set to Bach’s The Musical Offering. The troupe is also performing the 20-minute ballet The Moor’s Pavane, which premiered in 1949 and is set to the music of Henry Purcell.
“[The Moor’s Pavane] is José’s most well-known work,” enthused Puleio. “So if we’re bringing it, we have to have him at his peak, with his careful, thoughtful storytelling.”
Peak it is, and no doubt always will be: In a 1974 review for The New York Times, Anna Kisselgoff wrote that the opus, based on Shakespeare’s Othello, is one of Limón’s best works due to its close attention to the source material.
With 13 dancers ages 22–32, the troupe is lauded wherever it appears. “We get the essence of the artists in the company [because] they have such a fresh approach to work and are being driven by storytelling,” Puleio said. “You can see the excitement and almost abandon in how they explore the Humphrey and Limón vocabulary.”
The company holds auditions once a year, and Puleio said that he’s looking for a dancer who has “the ability to be vulnerable and take risks. I’m interested in dancers to be open enough to tell different stories. The technique,” he continued, “is about gravity and responding to gravity, pressing against it. If I can find an artist who gives in and can fight against it, that’s the metaphor about this work that lives narratively and within technique.”
To the uninitiated, however, modern dance may seem foreign. Puleio said he wants people to consider the art form this way: “I think about being in a room and someone storms into the room, and you can feel the energy shift. You’re aware the energy has shifted; you’re caught up in this moment of mystery, and the awareness of the space has changed.
“If the music is happy and uplifted,” acknowledged Puleio, “there’s a feeling that comes with that. We have a need to live in that moment of wonder, suspense, curiosity. Let that door open and allow ourselves to respond to that. That’s the ride I want people to go on. I want to bring beauty into this world, that something ephemeral is being created in front of the audience, and they leave with a feeling of hope being created together.
