September 20, 2023 – Modern dance vanguards the Limón Dance Company will visit Santa Fe College (SF) in October 2023 to teach and perform as part of the college’s Master Artist series. The company’s public performance opens the annual Young Dancer Workshop at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 26, in the Jackson N. Sasser Fine Arts Hall at the Northwest Campus, 3000 NW 83 Street, Gainesville.
Tickets are $10 and are available from the SF Fine Arts Hall Box Office at 352-395-4181 or online at showpass.com/Limón-dance-company.
“The Limón Dance Company may be the most significant dance company to visit Santa Fe [College] as Master Artists,” said Melissa Brenner, SF Assistant Professor of Dance who is organizing the visit and the concurrent Young Dancers Workshop. “Dante Puleio, a former Limón dancer who is now the company’s artistic director, will be here for a week prior to Limón’s performance to teach the Dance Theatre of Santa Fe ‘There is Time,’ a 1956 Limón classic. The SF dancers will then perform this historic work and will experience a live dance history lesson throughout that process. Members of the Limón Company will stay on after their performance to teach and mentor the young dancers throughout the workshop on October 27 and 28.”
Considered one of the world’s greatest dance companies, the Limón Dance Company has been at the forefront of modern dance since its inception in 1946. The company was founded by José Limón (1908-1972), a Mexican dancer and choreographer who immigrated to the USA, and Doris Humphrey (1895-1958), an American dancer and choreographer who was one of the second generation of modern dance pioneers. Limón is considered one of Mexico’s greatest artistic exports and a role model for Latinx communities throughout the United States. The company has been universally acclaimed for its dramatic expression, technical mastery and expansive, nuanced movements.
“This visit is an opportunity for our students and community to enjoy the best of modern dance and to learn about the history of that art form,” Brenner explained. The Limón dancers will perform three pieces from their repertoire that include “Choreographic Offering,” an homage to Doris Humphrey from 1962; “Orfeo,” an ode to José Limón’s late wife, from 1972; and “Migrant Mother,” a new work from 2022.
Brenner also cited the important networking opportunities that the Master Artist visits provide to the students. “Not only is it highly educational to see how professional artists of this caliber work, but the more high-caliber artists students can work with, the more connections they can make in the world of professional dance,” she said.
The Limón Dance Company Residency is sponsored by the Santa Fe College Fine and Performing Arts and Entertainment Technology Department, the Santa Fe College Foundation and the Young Dancer Workshop of North Central Florida. For information about the performance and the Master Artist visit, call Melissa Brenner at 352-395-4194. For information about tickets, call the SF Box Office at 352-395-4181.