Born in Mexico, José Limón was the eldest of twelve children. In 1915, his family moved to Los Angeles, California. Limón attended UCLA as an art major. He moved to New York City in 1928 to study at the New York School of Design. Limón discovered his passion for dance in 1929 after attending one of Harold Kreutzberg and Yvonne Gerogi's performances.
Limón then chose to enroll in the Humphrey-Weidman school. Within just a few years, he was performing on Broadway. Within the decade, Limón would perform on Balanchine's choreography on Broadway.
At the Bennington Festival at Mill College in 1939, Limón created his first major choreographic work, titled Danzas Mexicanas. More of Limón's works to come....
In 1943, Limón's made his final appearance on Broadway. he then focused on creating dances about American and folk themes at the Studio Theatre. He was drafted into the Army in April, 1943. While servinf the country, he collaborated with composers Frank Loesser and Alex North, and choreographed pieces for the US Army Special Services.
To Be Continued...
A pioneer in the field of modern dance, Limón is a revered artist, dancer and choreographer!
Great post! From the video: "I feel more of actor/dancer than dancer/dancer." Just from this statement from Limon, you can tell that the telling of the story was very important to him, almost as important as the dance itself. He seems to say that a dance is nothing without a story. Especially with his work concerning Moors and their historical context, you can't just have a man of color dancing, you must tell the story of the characters involved to have it make sense. You can't understand Othello without hearing from Othello and Desdemona and Iago. The story is very important; without it, you just have movement.
ReplyDeleteI think it is so interesting how he didn't start dancing until around his 20's after college. People today always start at like age 3. It shows how dedicated and hard working he was, especially to be doing work by Humphrey.
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