The Missa Brevis Project is Inaugurated!

photo by Laura Raucher

"...34 years after his death, Limón looks most of all like a master modern dance stylist. Certainly, that's the impression left by the 12-member Limón Dance Company...as part of the Dance at the Music Center series" (March 27 2006 Lewis Segal, Los Angeles Times).

On March 25th 2006, the Limón Dance Company traveled to Los Angeles for the inaugural performance of The Missa Brevis Project. This innovative project honors the Limón Dance Company’s 60th Anniversary in 2006 and José Limón’s centenary in 2008. Missa Brevis commands a large cast, thereby allowing Company to share the Limón legacy in a unique way by encorporating local dancers from each host city to perform onstage with them.

The Limón Dance Company breathed new life into Missa Brevis for Los Angeles audiences with the help of dancers from Cal Arts and the LA community. To prepare, the guest dancers worked tirelessly under the tutelage of Limón master teacher Nina Watt throughout a three week workshop in Limón technique. The company then joined the local dancers to rehearse Missa Brevis as an integrated cast.

In preparation for this first performance, the company rehearsed in New York, supplementing their numbers with nine invited students and young professionals. The cast included PSP students Kimberly Whorton, Angela Caporiccio and Aleaxandra Mount-Campbell along with Limón teachers Geraldine Cardiel, Andre Megerdichian and Nicole Tronzano-Speletic. Also included were Marcelo Rueda, Edgar Rodriguez and Jennifer Pike, all of whom study at the Limón Institute.

At an Open Rehearsal on March 13th, the cast of Missa Brevis revealed sections of this stunning work to an invited audience. These dancers treasured the opportunity to rehearse with the company under Carla Maxwell’s direction, even though they never had an opportunity to perform the work formally.

During the coming years, The Limón Dance Company will share Missa Brevis with many different communities as we reach new audience members and connect with our dedicated Limón family.  

Carla Maxwell and Edie Weiner honored at Limón Gala

On May 9th, 2006, The José Limón Dance Foundation hosted a gala honoring Carla Maxwell’s 40th Anniversary with the Limón Dance Company and Edie Weiner’s 20th Anniversary on the Board of Directors. The sold out performance was held at the The Joan Weill Center for Dance with an all-star cast featuring performers such as Paul Dennis, Victoria Jaiani, Roxane D'Orléans Juste, Lutz Förster, Margie Gillis, Meredith Monk, Risa Steinberg, Temur Suluashvili, Nina Watt, and The Limón Dance Company. The evening proved to be a stellar evening of celebration, honoring the remarkable achievements of  two exceptional women who have extraordinary accomplishments, worthy of our praise.

Clay Taliaferro: "Student of the World" 

The Limón Dance Company’s performance in Durham, North Carolina on February 17, 2006, was probably one of hundreds featuring Clay Taliaferro. Clay has been a principle dancer and guest artist with the Limón Dance Company for over a decade. Yet this performance carried a special meaning for Clay; the entire program was in honor of his steadfast dedication to the ongoing exploration of dance.

The performance held at Duke University honored Clay and marked his retirement from the position of Professor of the Practice of Dance at Duke University. As is befitting, Clay himself danced one of his favorite roles: the Moor in Limón’s classic The Moor’s Pavane. The Limón Dance Company also honored Clay in their performances of Lar Lubovitch’s newly commissioned work, Recodare, and with Doris Humphrey’s Choreographic Offering .

Clay's career in dance has led him down many paths. Prior to joining the Limón Dance Company, Clay danced with and served as Acting Artistic Director for the Donald McKayle Dance Company. While with the Limón Dance Company, he served as Assistant Artistic Director to Ruth Currier. Clay co-founded and directed his own company, Theatre Dance Trio, and has performed, taught, and choreographed throughout the Americas, Europe, and the former Soviet Union. He has choreographed over eighty works and has performed on and off-Broadway, in television, and in film.

From the looks of his upcoming schedule, it seems Clay’s retirement will only bring him fresh opportunities to share his extensive knowledge and deep love of dance. This year marks 34 years since José Limón personally asked Clay to join the Limón Dance Company, and to this day Clay continues to perform, teach, and coach Limón masterworks. During the next year Clay will be teaching at Rhode Island College, Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, Sweet Briar College, Boston Conservatory, Emory University, and in New York City.

A self proclaimed “student of the world,” Clay states, “I came to Duke as a performer. I hope that will be my legacy. … I love to teach, and I love being at Duke. But 10 years from now, rather than have someone say, ‘Remember that guy who was a professor?’ I’d like somebody to say, ‘Remember that guy who danced?’

Here at Limón, we believe he will always be revered as such.