'The Exiles' Adam & Eve Gain Momentum

NEA AWARD GAINS MOMENTUM FOR 25TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON

Momentum Dance Company begins its 25th anniversary season with a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts to fund training and performance of Jose Limon's 1950 classic The Exiles. The twenty-minute work set to music by Schoenberg is considered one of the great classics of American modern dance, and one of Limon's signature works. The Exiles will have its company premiere on December 1 & 2 at the Colony Theater in Miami Beach as part of Momentum's Twenty-Fifth Anniversary celebration.

The $25,750 award from the NEA's American Masterworks Fund is the first NEA grant to Momentum Dance Company. "We are all so joyful that Momentum will be able to acquire and perform The Exiles," says Artistic Director Delma Iles.
The Exiles is Limon's dance recreation of the biblical Story of adam and Eve's expulsion from the Garden of Eden. In three sections, it depicts the expulsion, the memory of paradise, and the long road ahead into exile.
"I believe that The Exiles will have a very special resonance in the South Florida community where so many exiles from various countries live side by side" says Iles. "The emotions of loss and regret, as well as hope for the future are classic themes that are essential to the meaning of this dance work. These are the very qualities that elevate a work of art to the status of classic."

Through arrangement with the Jose Limon Foundation, Momentum will have the rights to perform The Exiles for three years. "Momentum has had a twenty-five year commitment to the reconstruction of classic historic works of modern dance; and each of the works we have performed has made us grow in terms of both technique and artistic quality. The dancers and I are very excited that we will learn and perform The Exiles both in South Florida and on tour as part of our Twenty-Fifth Anniversary season," says Iles.

Momentum has previously presented works by modern dance pioneers Eleanor King, Isadora Duncan, and Anna Sokolow. More recently the company has experienced great success with Water Study and Night Spell, two Doris Humphrey classics.

Jose Limon, one of the most important figures in American dance history, studied with Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman and danced with their company 1930-1940. He toured with May O'Donnell's company and appeared in recitals with B. Sekler and Nanette Charisse. He founded the Jose Limon American Dance Company in 1947 and it was immediately recognized as one of the most outstanding modern dance troupes. Doris Humphrey was the Artistic Director and Ruth Currier, Pauline Koner, Betty Jones and Lucas Hoving were the leading dancers. His most important works include The Moor's Pavane, La Malinche, The Exiles, The Traitor, There is a Time, Emperor Jones, Missa Brevis, and Odysseus. He taught at the Julliard School and various colleges and contributed to the book The Modern Dance. His company continues to perform from its New York City base.

"Historic programming is desperately needed in the field of modern dance," explains Iles. "The worlds of ballet, Spanish dance, African dance and several other traditional dance forms have done an exceptional job of not only preserving their history, but also of regularly performing important historic and classic works. Who has not heard of Swan Lake and The Nutcracker as well as a host of other ballets? Modern dance, with its emphasis on creativity and new work has not done as good a job showing its historic work to both students and audiences. Many modern dance students have never seen any of the older works that formed the basis for the very techniques they are studying. Due to this omission, audiences also have no context or point of reference from which to view and evaluate modern dance. And yet the innovators of our art form such as Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Jose Limon and Anna Sokolow, to name only a few, changed American dance
forever, affecting the worlds of ballet, Broadway, film, and jazz. Audiences need a chance to get to know these seminal works that contributed to redefining the art form. This will add to their overall enjoyment and appreciation of modern dance as well as provide a framework from which to understand even the most cutting-edge contemporary works."

Veteran Limon dancer and teacher Jennifer Scanlon has been working with Momentum dancers in reconstructing the work. She will return in November to put the finishing touches on the dance just prior to their South Florida premiere at Momentum's Twenty-Fifth Anniversary concerts on December 1 & 2 at 8:00 PM at the Colony Theater, 1040 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach. Tickets are $15-$50. Theater phone: 305-674-1040. For tickets and information call 305-858-7002. Online ticketing at http://www.momentumdance.com.

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