Limón Dance Company

Photos by Hisae Aihara

The Limón Dance Company, celebrating its 80th Anniversary, opened at the Joyce Theater with Chaconne, a solo Limón created for himself in 1942 and re-staged for company members and several generations of Limón dancers: Limón 2, alumni, students, and featured elders Alice Condodina and Nina Watt. Bach’s Chaconne from Partita #2 in D Minor, played live by violinist John Marcus, surrounded the twenty or so dancers with swirling, musical images.

Wind sounds rushing, spiraling, and cascading, supported this exquisite cast throughout. All on stage when the curtain opened, they began in total unison with back leaning lunges that fell forward before the group peeled off into turns, ending abruptly in fifth position coupe with arms rising, flexed wrists above their heads. Glorious combinations of attitude turns, rond de jambes into arabesque pauses, showed off Limón’s difficult, exciting phrases. 

The two elder women danced together, supported behind by a group of younger dancers. Small groups rushed on from corners in runs and skips. Then smaller groups gathered into a larger unison circle, and broke into four quartet corners in canon style as beautifully lit warm sunshine by Al Crawford bathed the group.

The piece ended repeating the opening lunges. Chaconne presented quintessential Limón at his best. It showcased strong community, inspiring music and glorious, accessible dancing, standing the test of time.  Dante Pulieo, Artistic Director, announced that this dance was a tribute to Carla Maxwell, former Artistic Director, who died this year.

The next two dances on the program were Puleio’s choices to reconstruct/update or promote new choreographers to create timely works on this fabulous company.

The Emperor Jones (1956), was Limón’s contemporary adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s 1920 play by the same name. At that time, it was a groundbreaking work for its use of expressionistic theater  and for featuring a black actor in the leading role.  This narrative dance, reconstructed in 2025 by Dante Puleio, featured the “Emperor Jones” danced with nuance and strength by Johnson Guo, and his nemesis, “The White Man” performed by Joey Columbus — a well matched foil.  

Interesting scenic design by Peta McKenna showed three modern day skyscrapers  dotted with visual projections of city lights in the background, as opposed to the original which featured a tropical setting. 

Jones was seated despondently on a large throne-like chair, with six “subjects” responding to him; obeying, rebelling, crawling off. As he awakened to the audience, a gun and holster was belted at his crotch suggesting erotic overtones, a rather heavy handed cliché, as he wielded his power over the group. 

Guo performed a powerful solo as his character evolved from depression to strutting confidence, ending with him standing on one leg atop his throne. His foil, Joey Columbus as  “The White Man” entered. They fought, embraced, exchanged power, until the emperor was finally defeated. A display of greed, tyranny, masculine identity, and homoerotic tension lay at the heart of this work. 

Jamelgos (World Premiere)  meaning “nag or skinny horse”by Mexican choreographer Diego Vega Solarza, shocked the audience with raw nudity and sexual imagery throughout — the piece referenced mythical centurions.

Sculptural shapes, duets, and group dances simulated war, sexuality, perversity, and darkness. While the costuming (Julio Cesar Delgrado), lighting, and dancers’ bodies were remarkable, the choreography left the audience flat, unable to really find the dance or feel a point of view. 

EYE ON THE ARTS, NY — Mary Seiman