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Feel the gravitational pull of Limón Dance Company’s passionate modern dance radiating with the triumph of the human spirit. Highly acclaimed for dramatic expression, technical mastery and expansive yet nuanced movement, the 80-year-old company continues to captivate audiences worldwide with the refined strength and visceral storytelling of founder José Limón.
The program highlights the best of the classic and the new. Limón’s World War II-inspired “Missa Brevis” (1958) is a mournful yet optimistic modern ballet set to Zoltán Kodály’s score, featuring the Northrop pipe organ, University Singers and University of Minnesota dance program students. The world premiere of a Northrop Centennial Commission reimagines Limón’s masterpiece “The Moor's Pavane” (1949), based on William Shakespeare’s gripping tragedy “Othello.” The highly anticipated new work brings together the vision of celebrated choreographer Akram Khan with the voices of creative collaborators Aditya Prakash (composer) and Zeynep Kepekli (lighting designer). This one-act version marks the company’s second Centennial Commission — Limón’s largest choreographic commission to date — as well as Khan’s first new creation for an American dance company.
Top image: Limón Dance Company. Photo © Kelly Puleio.
Related Links, Quotes & Reviews
“Limón’s heroic style felt fresh with possibilities.” — The New York Times
“[Akram Khan’s] choreography is flawless, gutsy and a joy to behold.” — Time Out, Sydney
“In this season of worldwide pain, Limón’s work is balm and anchor. Limón’s work is heroic; the legacy of his movement and musicality continues to honor him.” — Dance View Times
“The dance of Limón is for always … a spectacle of the highest artistic level … still the most unique and original American dance company.” — II Messaggero, Rome, Italy
“The most welcome element of the program that the Limón Dance Company is presenting … is the way the group dances are performed … They perform with a mixture of honest-to-goodness objectivity and what seems like a certain private pleasure.” — The New York Times
“The choreography of the great José Limón, a Mexican immigrant, with its clean lines, those powerful curved arms and, always, the deep emotional content, is one of our national treasures.” — Reading Eagle
“‘Missa Brevis’ is not a document about war nor a mass in an ecclesiastic sense, but is a capturing of the human spirit in its own terms and its relevance embraces not only external cataclysms like war, but every subjective touching by the individual of that universal, epic anguish by which his soul is stripped and he stands cleansed beyond suffering.” — The New York Times
“‘The Moor's Pavane’ is one of Limón's most critically acclaimed pieces ... one would find it hard to believe that this Shakespearian variation could continue to be relevant 70 years later. And yet, with tones of deception, chaos, mistrust and injustice, suddenly ‘The Moor's Pavane’ becomes eerily appropriate and suited to this year.” — Eye On Dance
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You might enjoy this performance if you love(d):
- Paul Taylor Dance Company
- Martha Graham Dance Company
- Ballet Hispánico
- Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
This will be Limón Dance Company’s fourth performance at Northrop — the last was in February 2022 — and second Northrop Centennial Commission.
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Event Information
- Seating: Reserved
- Performance Begins: 7:30 p.m.
- Pick 3 or More Events and Save
If you need assistance, please call 612-624-2345, email umntix@umn.edu.
Planning Your Visit
Learn More — Explore These Themes
The content below derives from the Northrop Across Campus Program that supports Northrop’s mission toward cultivating intersections between performing arts and education for the benefit of all participants now and for generations to come.
Find ways to make thematic connections to these suggested topics:
- Dance Composition
- Modern/Contemporary Dance
- Dance History
- Dance Production
- History of Modern Mexico
- English Literature
- South Asian Literature, Culture and Media
- Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
- Latino and Chicano Studies
Dive deeper with these resources that provide additional information about the performers, the history of the art form and the artistic process.
Video: “José Limón Technique”
Video: “José Limón Bio”
“DANCE VIEW: The José Limón Troupe — Without José Limón” — The New York Times
Lanuza, Celeste. “How José Limón’s Cultural Identity Influenced Three of His Choreographic Works: ‘Danzas Mexicanas’ (1939), ‘La Malinche’ (1949) and ‘Missa Brevis’ (1958).” University of California, Irvine, 2013. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (10006291).
“Struck by Lightning: José Limón recalls the moment he discovered that dance equaled life.” — The New York Times
José Limón Dance Company: “The Moor's Pavane” — Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive
Video: “‘Missa Brevis’ — José Limón in ‘Agnus Dei’ Solo 1964”
Video: “Akram Khan | Choreographer Conversations”
Video: “Akram Khan Company — ‘Thikra: Night of Remembering’ | Trailer”
Video: “‘zero degrees’ / Akram Khan & Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui”
Video: “Emeli Sande — ‘Abide with Me’ (with the Akram Khan Dance Company) London 2012”
Akram Khan Company’s “Giselle” website
Video: “Choreographer Akram Khan: ‘The body speaks the truth’”
Video: “‘Memories of the Future’ Documentary — Akram Khan Company, Dance United Yorkshire, Bradford 2025”
“A return to form for Akram Khan: Dance Gigenis: The Generation of the Earth Akram Khan” — The Daily Telegraph (Access via UMN Libraries)
Chapter 3: “Beyond fixity: Akram Khan on the politics of dancing heritages” — “Rethinking Dance Histories: Issues and Methodologies” (Access via UMN Libraries)
Chapter 1: “Akram Khan: The creative confusion of the migrating body” — “Movements of Interweaving: Dance and Corporeality in Times of Travel and Migration” (Access via UMN Libraries)
Chapter 25: “Akram Khan on the politics of choreographing touch” — “Contemporary Choreography: A Critical Reader” (Access via UMN Libraries)
Start a conversation about the performance or encourage reflection, using these questions as inspiration.
Born in 1908 in Culiacán, Mexico, José Limón moved to the United States with his family when he was 7 years old. At the age of 20, he moved to New York City to study painting but fell in love with dance. Limón began studying with modern dance pioneers Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman, then joined their company. He founded Limón Dance Company alongside Humphrey in 1946.
- What is the legacy of immigrants in shaping and creating the history of American modern dance?
- What other examples can you name of artists who changed mediums over the course of their lives?
- What is the relationship between painting — or other visual arts — and dance or movement?
- Where is a place you feel inspired to express yourself and why?
José Limón created “Missa Brevis” after visiting Poland as part of a U.S. Department of State tour and hearing Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály’s “Missa Brevis in Tempore Belli” (“Short Mass in Time of War”) — a score written at the end of World War II. Limón commented on his inspiration in “José Limón: An Unfinished Memoir”: “Against a background of cities still lying eviscerated by the savagery of war, I met human beings of courage, serenity, nobility … I am in awe of these brave people, of their passionate love for their identity, their tradition, their beautiful survival — but above all, their unspeakable courage.” Limón’s danced mass, like Kodály’s music, celebrates the human spirit through representations of affirmation and rebirth.
- How does art facilitate our ability to process trauma and historical events?
- Is there a work of art that has helped you understand your history and where you come from?
Throughout his 25-year artistic career, Akram Khan’s body of work has contributed significantly to the arts in the U.K. and abroad. His reputation has been built on the success of imaginative, highly accessible and relevant productions such as “Thikra: Night of Remembering,” “Jungle Book Reimagined,” “zero degrees” and a section of the London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony that received unanimous acclaim. Khan is an established collaborator with the English National Ballet and has received numerous awards and honorary degrees. In Sadler’s Wells’ podcast “Choreographer Conversations,” Khan speaks about feeling at home on stage: “When things go dark around you, that’s where I’m at home … I think most artists are. There’s a refuge in the spotlight … And I’m very familiar with darkness. Being in the shadow. Because I grew up being in the shadow.”
- What role do the performing arts play in creating a sense of belonging for both artists and audience members?
- How do you imagine Khan’s metaphor of “being in the shadow” has shaped his artistic vision?
- Is there a place that gives you a sense of refuge? What about it makes you feel safe?
Limón Dance Company, which is both a legacy and repertory company, continues a lineage of historic collaborations under Artistic Director Dante Puleio. Limón’s early career featured collaborations with modern dance icon Doris Humphrey, and the company has commissioned choreographers during and after Limón’s time as director. Khan’s reimagining of Limón’s “The Moor’s Pavane” (1949), his first new creation for an American dance company, will premiere at Northrop on Jan. 30. The original piece was inspired by Shakespeare’s “Othello” (1604), which is itself an adaptation of “Un Capitano Moro” (1565) by the Italian writer Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio.
- How do you imagine artistic collaboration has changed across the 16th, 17th, 20th and 21st centuries?
- What role does the reimagining and adaptation of classic or historical works play in our culture today?
- Is there an adaptation that has resonated with you? If so, why?
Acknowledgments
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
