Program Includes Reconstruction of Masterworks and World-Premiere of New Piece

 

In celebration of the Arts Center's post renovation season, National Medal of Honor of Arts honoree José Limón Dance Company returns for its fourth appearance at Nazareth College to premiere the stunning reconstruction of Limón classic There is a Time as well as the celebrated The Moor's Pavane. Limón Dance will also perform a special preview premiere performance of Jonathan Fredrickson’s The Edge of Some World– November 6 at 8:00 p.m. in the newly renovated Callahan Theater. Tickets for this spectacular performance are $35-65. To purchase tickets, visit the Nazareth College Arts Center box office at 4245 East Avenue, Rochester, New York or call 585-389-2170. Arts Center box office hours are 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. New this season - Arts Center Student Rush Tickets! (See details below)

 

The José Limón Dance Company is the second performance of the 2009-2010 season in The Year of the Arts Center, which encompasses its unprecedented weeklong opening celebration September 25 – October 2, the spectacular 2009-2010 subscription series season October 30 - May 16, and the launch of the Nazareth College Arts Center Dance Festival, July 10 -17. 2010. The Nazareth College Arts Center has been the premier venue for world-class dance in the region for over 41 years.

 

On November 6, the Limón Dance Company presents a program at Nazareth College Arts Center, which not only spans six decades of great dance making, but is also a celebration of the 100^th birthday of one of its dearest teachers, Nona Schurman. As a part of the José Limón Dance Company’s mission to support young talent, the November 6 program at Nazareth will open with a sneak preview of new work by company member Jonathan Frederickson, set to a provocative score by Henryk Górecki – Kleines Requiem für Eine Polka, op.66. This preview is followed by Mr. Limón’s incomparable masterwork The Moor’s Pavane – a retelling of the Othello story that is known the world over as one of the greatest dances of the 20^th century. The program closes with a major revival of another Limón masterwork, There is a Time, restaged and directed by Limón’s associate artistic director, Roxanne D’Orléans Juste. This lyrical dance of the circle of life is partnered in composition with an original score by Norman Dello Joio, which in 1957 won the Pulitzer Prize for Music.

 

There is a Time – choreography by José Limón and music from Norman Dello Joio*. The entire work is, both choreographically and musically, a theme with variations. The choreographer used as his theme a large circle, which, at the opening of the work, fills the stage and moves majestically as if to evoke the interminable passage of time. This circle is seen repeatedly in many guises, rhythms and dramatic shapes, always making allusion to the text from Chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes and its evocation of human experience. There is a Time was first performed April 20, 1956 at The Juilliard School of Music by the José Limón Dance Company.

 

* “Mediations on Ecclesiastes,” commissioned for José Limón by The Juilliard Music Foundation and its festival of American Music. This score earned the Pulitzer Prize in 1957.

 

The Moor’s Pavane (Variations on a theme of Othello) – choreography by José Limón and music from Henry Purcell with an arrangement by Simon Sadoff. Though subtitled “Variations on a theme of Othello,” The Moor’s Pavane is not intended as a choreographic version of Shakespeare’s play. In the form of a Pavane and other dances of the high Renaissance, the legend is told of the hapless Moor, his wrongly suspected wife, the Moor’s treacherous friend, and his wife. The four characters portray the tragedy of “Everyman,” and the dance is, therefore, timeless in its implications. The Moor’s Pavane’s first performance was August 17, 1949 at the American Dance Festival, Connecticut College.

 

The Edge of Some World – choreography by Jonathan Fredrickson and music from Henryk Górecki. The Edge of Some World will have its first performance at the Nazareth College Arts Center on November 6, 2009. The Edge of Some World is a place of transition, the doors are the vases, the keys are the yellow flowers, the willingness to cross over to the other side of the lock. The choreographer, in his third season with José Limón Dance Company, is also a dancer in this work. 

 

The José Limón Dance Company is renowned for its dramatic expression and technical mastery. Now in its 63^rd year, the company demonstrates both the timelessness of José Limón’s works and the strength of his vision that leads the Company. Founded in 1946 by José Limón and Doris Humphrey, the dancers are now led by Carla Maxwell, who worked closely with Limón before becoming the artistic director in 1978. Over the years, the Company’s commitment to producing and presenting programs that balance classic works of American modern dance with commissions from contemporary choreographers has yielded a repertory of unparalleled breadth. The Company is the living legacy of the movement technique and philosophy of theater developed by José Limón and his mentors, Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman, whose innovative works have been recognized as great masterworks of American dance. In addition, the Company commissions new works and acquisitions from other master choreographers, including Garth Fagan, Clay Taliaferro, Doug Varone, Mark Haim, Ralph Lemon, Donald McKayle, Murray Louis, Kurt Jooss, Suzanne Linke, Lar Lubovitch, Meredith Monk, Alwin Nikolais, Daniel Nagrin, Anna Sokolow, and Jiri Kylián.

 

In its first half-century, the José Limón Dance Company achieved many important milestones: it was the first group to tour under the auspices of the American Cultural Exchange Program (1954), the first dance troupe to perform at Lincoln Center (1963), and has had the honor of appearing twice at the White House (1967 and 1995). A recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Millennium Grant,

the Company initiated a program to expand its legacy with a major initiative providing support to independent choreographers and reconstructing modern dance masterworks that are in danger of being lost. The José Limón Dance Company is the performing component of the José Limón Dance Foundation, which was awarded a 2008 National Medal of Arts, the nation’s highest honor for artistic excellence, given by the President of the United States.

 

 

The Nazareth College Arts Center Student Rush Ticket program is the best deal in town. Area students, with valid student ID can attend outstanding dance, theatre and international entertainment at the Arts Center for only $5 per show! Arts Center Student Rush Tickets are available for all non-sold-out shows – beginning an hour before the performance time. Students must pay cash for all tickets to receive this special offer. Students are limited to one Rush ticket per student ID. Student Rush Tickets are not available to family shows. Student Rush Tickets are orchestra and value section tickets only. Nazareth College students, with valid ID, will continue to receive one free ticket per performance.