Designing dance

The performance of the Limon Dance Company at the Jacob's Pillow Festival in New England was a delight to watch. LAKSHMI VISHWANATHAN writes on this seminal dance group and the enduring legacy of its founder.

OFTEN I have heard modern dancers in America say that they have learnt the Limon technique of dance. I had an opportunity to witness a performance of the Limon Dance Company this summer and get filled in on many interesting details about the peculiarities of this style , the legacy the company carries successfully and the historical aspects of the man and his life.

The 20th Century saw America spawn many greats in the dance arena. Some are now legends. A few are not just remembered but celebrated in a way that would please them in the other life. Jose Limon is one of them. When one hears that the Martha Graham dance company has disbanded, one feels a sense of loss. Time and all the economic factors that keep companies founded by great artists alive, suddenly come to a slow grinding halt, causing a sense of despair among dance lovers and artists. After the leader has gone, survival is a matter of constant re-invention. This, the Limon Dance Company has done, with assurance and panache.

It describes itself as a "seminal" modern dance company. One saw on stage at the Ted Shawn theatre, the vibrant choreography of Donald McKayle,set to the music of jazz virtuoso James Newton. A live ensemble of African instrumentalists, jazz musicians and the renowned Dan Moye, warmed the heart of a committed group of dance enthusiasts. They saw the Limon dancers weave patterns of curves, squares and circles on the stage, with an exuberance which shadowed the early Latin origins of the technique of the founder, the legendary Limon. The strength of their movements, close to the power of gravity, somehow seemed to blend beautifully with the sounds of the rhythmic jazz chords.

A film on Jose Limon followed the performance that afternoon. This Mexican has carved a niche for himself in the hall of fame of modern dance in 20th Century America. His gurus were the redoubtable Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman who rebelled from the classical technique of ballet to develop an original vocabulary. That was more than 70 years ago. That such a technique has stood the test of time is credit to his followers like Limon who brought their own eloquence to a new language of expression. The documentary on Limon was a moving piece on his early passion for dance, his struggles as well as his innovative and daring explorations of movement.

One of the characteristics of Limon's technique has been its humanism. Not surprisingly, he explored it in his landmark piece "The Moor's Pavane", based on Shakespeare's "Othello." When he was directing his dancers, Limon stressed on musicality , use of breath, lyricism and drama. Today his company has imbibed all of these, and yet respond to the work of contemporay choreographers with the enthusiasm of a fresh experience.

It is not a surprise that the company enjoys the kind of popularity that is reserved in America for very few and special dance groups.

An indication of their vital presence in the contemporary dance scene was their season at the Jacob's Pillow festival. Set in the beautiful surroundings of historic New England, this venue is like a place of pilgrimage to honour the memory of two visionaries. They are Ruth St. Denis, the first of the modern orientalists, and her husband and longtime partner Ted Shawn. The young and effervescent director Ella Baff, has put her might into making this festival aim for new pinnacles of glory. That she is succeeding is not in doubt. What was evident, seeing her there, was her committment, patience and deep enthusiasm for dance.

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