The dancers of the internationally renowned Jose Limon Dance Company shared their techniques recently at Flushing Town Hall, in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.
The dancers spent the afternoon of Sunday, September 27 demonstrating some of the movements of The Moor’s Pavane, the company’s signature piece, inspired by William Shakespeare’s play Othello, and also hosting workshops for children.
“In his [Limon’s] work you’ll find love and dignity for all people,” said Carla Maxwell, the artist director of the company since 1978, worked directly with Limon during his last days. “He believed in the goodness of human beings.”
After he fled his country’s revolution with his family at age seven, Jose Arcadio Limon, born in 1908 in the town of Culiacan in the State of Sinaloa, Mexico, arrived in Los Angeles.
He moved to New York in 1928 and began to study under dancers Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman. Limon founded his dance company in 1946.
According to Steve McIntosh, director of education at Flushing Town Hall, Jose Limon deserves to be celebrated in the Hispanic community for the cultural legacy he left behind.
“We wanted to focus on an artist of Hispanic origin and we chose the Jose Limon Dance Company because it is world renown,” said McIntosh. “His history is about an immigrant who became part of the American Dream.”
For the company, which tours around the world, the next step is captivating the New York market.
“We have workshops planned for kids at schools and we want to do more presentations in the five boroughs,” said John Claasen, the company’s producer.
During their first visit to Flushing Town Hall, principal dancer Roxane D’Orlean Juste led the children’s workshop. The afternoon finished up with a lecture about the book, Jose! Born to Dance: The Story of Jose Limon.
The Jose Limon Dance Company will return to Flushing Town Hall, located at 137-35 Northern Boulevard, for a performance of The Moor’s Pavane on Saturday, October 24 at 2 p.m.
Tickets are $12 for adults; $10 for members and students; $8 for children – children of members pay $6. For more information, call the box office at 718-463-7700 Ext. 222.
