Jose Limon Essay

Jose Limon was born on January 12, 1908 in Culiacan, Mexico. His family immigrated to America during the Mexican Revolution. After graduating from Lincoln High school, Limon attended UCLA as an art major. He moved to New York City in 1928 to study at the New York school of design. There he was inspired to begin training as a dancer after he attended a dance production by Yvonne Georgi and Harald Kreutzberg. He trained with Charles Weidman and Doris Humphrey at the Humphrey-Weidman Studio and then began dancing for their company professionally. From the 1930's to the 40's, Limon danced with the Humphrey-Weidman Company. During the year of 1943 Limon was choreographing dances for Broadway until he was drafted into the armed forces during World War II. After his return from the war he joined his mentor Doris Humphrey in starting Limon Dance Company. Jose Limon started his company in 1947 in New York, NY. When Limón began his company, he asked Humphrey to be the artistic director, making it the first modern dance company to have an artistic director who was not also the founder. While working with Humphrey, Limón developed his repertory with Doris Humphrey and established the principles of the style that was to become the Limón technique. In 1958, Doris Humphrey, who had been the artistic director for the Limón Company, died and Limón took over her position. In 1970, Limón was …show more content…
According to the Limón Institute, the "Limón Technique emphasizes the natural rhythms of fall and recovery and the interplay between weight and weightlessness to provide dancers with an organic approach to movement that easily adapts to a range of choreographic styles. The mission of the company is, "The José Limón Dance Foundation exists to perpetuate the Limón legacy and its humanistic approach to movement and theater, and to extend the vitality of that vision into the future, through performance, creation, preservation and