Jose Limon, The Mexican Bull

Yunnuen Astrain Professor Andrea Vazquez
DANC HIST Spring 2012
The Mexican Bull
“Acclaimed for its dramatic expression, technical mastery and expansive, yet nuanced movement, theLimón Dance Company illustrates the timelessness of José Limón’s work and vision” (Jose Limon Dance). This description contains the exact words to describe my reasons to write and research about themagnificent work and technique of one of the best Modern Dancers/Choreographers of the twentieth century, Jose Arcadio Limon. “Jose Limon electrified the world with his dynamic masculine dance anddramatic choreography” (Limon 8min doc.). Despite his heritage, born in Culiacan, Mexico, Limon travelled to the United States and spent his carrier building a new art form called American Modern Dance.While he was working for Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman, Limon explored the different Modern Dance styles being influenced by Doris Humphrey, which later on became her artistic director in hisown company. With the combination of Humphrey’s formalism and Weidman’s expressionism, Limon took these opportunities to dance by making them his own and keeps exploring. “Limón emphasized thesynchronized rhythmic co-ordination of the movements. He made isolated parts of the body speak with their individual qualities as ‘voices of the body’” (Dance Connection). His knowledge of music alsoinfluenced in his work, he liked play with rhythmic structures and dynamics. “The Humphrey-Limón technique provides the dancer with an intelligent body and with the tools to communicate ideas and emotionsthrough movement” (Dance Connection). What is it about the Humphrey-Limon technique that makes it unique and outstanding among other techniques and what is the right way to prepare our bodies for it?According to an article found on the Texas A&M International University Kilam Library, Jose Limon’s technique focuses on the movement of breath through the body, the dynamic use of weight in each...