Limon Dance Company returns to Nazareth College

Tickets on sale Friday, December 16 at noon

by Kevin Schoonover

Rochester, NY (12/10/2022) — Acclaimed for its exquisite choreography and dramatic expression, technical brilliance, and expansive, yet nuanced humanity, the iconic Limon Dance Company returns to Nazareth College next month.

Nazareth College's Visual and Performing Arts' 2022/2023 Changemakers Series presents An Evening with the Limon Dance Company, in a program that includes choreography by company founder Jose Limon and co-founder Doris Humphrey. The company takes the Callahan Theater stage at the Nazareth College Arts Center Complex on Saturday, January 21 at 7:30 p.m.

The audience is invited to attend a pre-performance talk at 6:30 p.m. in the Peace Theater (room A14) in the Arts Center's lower level, featuring Dante Puleio, Limon Dance Company's artistic director, a former member of the company for more than a decade.

The company's repertory includes classic works in addition to new commissions from contemporary choreographers. Under Puleio's direction, the company concentrates on perpetuating, preserving, and celebrating Jose Limon's historical legacy, and reimagining his intention and vision to reflect the rapidly shifting 21st century landscape.

"Performing with luscious spontaneity" (The New York Times), the company performs Limon's Chaconne, Psalm, and A Choreographic Offering, and co-founder Doris Humphrey's ageless Air for the G String when it comes to Nazareth College.

Starting at noon on Friday, December 16, reserved seated tickets are $10 to $45. These tickets are available online at www2.naz.edu/artscenter/tickets/ or through the Arts Center box office at boxoffice@naz.edu or 585-389-2170. Nazareth College students are admitted free of charge. There are also $5 tickets available to other college students with ID.

The performance is presented in cooperation with Nazareth College's Theatre and Dance Department where the company will be in residence on January 20 and 21. An open rehearsal for Nazareth College dance students at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, and a free, open to the public master class on the Limon dance technique at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, will be offered in the dance studio in George Hall on the Nazareth College campus.

There will also be a lecture/demonstration at 7:30 p.m. on Friday in Callahan Theater that is open to the public. It will feature selections of their historic and recently reconstructed Danzas Mexicanas, along with the new 2022 Bessie Award-nominated work, Migrant Mother, choreographed by Raul Tamez. Those tickets are $10; $5 each for dance schools and groups of six or more.

"Nazareth Dance Program is excited to welcome one of the most historically significant and currently relevant dance companies in the world to the Arts Center stage," noted Heather Roffe, Nazareth College Dance Program Director.

Kevin Schoonover, Nazareth's Arts Center Managing Director added, "This is a rare and unique opportunity for Rochesterians to experience some of the finest dance currently being produced. The artistry and precision of this company is going to astound all who see it."

Hailed as one of the world's great dance companies, the Limon Dance Company has been at the vanguard of American modern dance since its inception in 1946, distinguishing itself as the first dance group to tour internationally under the auspices of the State Department and the first modern dance company to perform at Lincoln Center in New York, as well as performing twice at The White House.

Thematically, founder Jose Limon possessed a social awareness that transcended distinct groups to address how we all search for commonality, earning him a special place in American culture. He is credited with creating one of the world's most important and enduring dance legacies. Greatly influenced by his Mexican heritage, Limon's choreography has had significant impact on the creation, growth and support of modern dance in the United States.

The Company is one of the two components of the Jose Limon Dance Foundation, which also conducts educational programs and disseminates the Limon repertory through the Limon Institute. In 2008, the President of the United States awarded the Foundation the National Medal of the Arts, the nation's highest honor for artistic excellence. The company is the living legacy of dance theater developed by Jose Limon and his mentors, Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman, whose innovative works revolutionized American dance.

After Limon's death in 1972, the company pioneered the idea that it was possible to survive the death of its founder, setting an example for the entire dance field. With their arresting visual clarity, theatricality, rhythmic and musical life, his works continue to influence the evolution of the art form 50 years after his passing.

Limon Dance Company last appeared at Nazareth College in 2009 as the inaugural event in the newly renovated Arts Center. This performance is the final offering in Nazareth College's Visual and Performing Arts' 2022/2023 Changemakers Series.

More information about the Nazareth College Arts Center and its programs can be found at www2.naz.edu/arts-center/.

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