Limón Dance Company Kicks Off 80th Anniversary Celebration at The Joyce Theater

The Limón Dance Company (LDC) launches celebrations of the company's 80 history with a bold, intergenerational program that honors eight decades of revolutionary modern dance by its founder, José Limón, and amplifies the voices of today. The program runs at The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, NYC, from October 14-19, 2025 and features a Curtain Chat on October 15. Performances: Tue-Sat at 7:30pm, Sat & Sun at 2pm. 

From José Limón's foundational works to powerful new commissions, this celebratory engagement delves deeply into questions of masculinity, identity, queerness, and the human condition — questions Limón himself wrestled with throughout his lifetime. The program opens with a multi-generational restaging of Limón's 1942 solo Chaconne —a poignant meditation on form, dignity, and the elevation of the male figure, featuring live music. It is followed by a new reconstruction of Limón's The Emperor Jones (1956), a haunting portrait inspired by Eugene O'Neill's play that explores authority, vulnerability, and the weight of self-mythology. Bridging history and innovation, the evening concludes with Jamelgos, a World Premiere from acclaimed Mexican choreographer Diego Vega Solorza. A vital voice in Latin American dance, Vega Solorza brings a personal lens shaped by his experience as a queer Mexican man. Like Limón, his work confronts the realities of its time with choreography that is personal, urgent, and unapologetic.

Chaconne (1942, José Limón)

Music: J.S. Bach, Chaconne from Partitia #2 in D Minor - Live Violinist

At the heart of the program lies an expansive staging of Limón's Chaconne, originally choreographed as a solo in 1942 to elevate the presence of the male dancer. A meditation on form, dignity, and the elevation of the male dance figure in modern dance, Chaconne becomes a multigenerational homage in this performance — reimagined for an ensemble of former and current Limón Company dancers. Presented in celebration of The Joyce's own history, this re-staging brings together artists who have shaped the Company across decades, honoring their contributions while reaffirming Limón's timeless artistic mission. At this juncture of the historical canon of Limón, this performance marks the roots of a new generation as well, by giving homage to the past in order to sow new grounds for the influence of Limón.

The Emperor Jones (1956, José Limón)

Music: Heitor Villa-Lobos

Reconstruction by Dante Puleio (2025)

A gripping examination of tyranny and masculine identity, Limón's adaptation of O'Neill's play returns in a groundbreaking contemporary adaptation that draws out the work's queer subtext and psychological tension. Limón's works frequently explored the complexity of male identity and power through duets of tension and contrast. Nowhere is this more evident than in The Emperor Jones, a haunting psychological portrait inspired by O'Neill's play. In Limón's telling, the story of a self-made tyrant hunted down by his former subjects becomes a vehicle for examining authority, vulnerability, and the destructive weight of self-mythology. This reconstruction — the first in the work's history to feature a mixed-gender corps — embraces contemporary design and a reimagined visual world that speaks to today's audiences while remaining true to Limón's emotional truth. Through updated costuming and staging, The Emperor Jones becomes not only a historical artifact but also a living, evolving work, inviting renewed reflection on race, masculinity, and the burden of power.

Jamelgos, World Premiere by Diego Vega Solorza (2025)

A powerful response to Limón's oeuvre by one of today's most avant-garde Mexican choreographers. This new work explores and reflects on masculinity and the inherited legacies of gender interpretation in Mexican culture. The work is intended to be a dance manifesto that conjures a choreographic landscape promising a hopeful future. In conversation with Limón's exploration of male relationships and identities, the program will feature a world premiere by acclaimed Mexican choreographer Diego Vega Solorza, whose work currently interrogates the relationships of human beings to their environment, gender space, identity, and the subtle violence of social conditioning. A vital voice in Latin American contemporary dance, Vega Solorza brings a deeply personal yet objective vision to Limón's themes; one that aims to be universal but is shaped by his own lived experience as a queer Mexican man navigating complex cultural landscapes. Drawing inspiration from Limón's The Traitor, The Moor's Pavane, and The Emperor Jones, Vega Solorza's commission is a radical imagining — a dance that dismantles traditional notions of masculinity and power, while reflecting on the way we inhabit and transform physical and imaginary spaces. Vega Solorza's choreography doesn't merely respond to Limón's legacy; it expands it, pushing the boundaries of what masculine identity can look like. This work is a bold next step in the Foundation's mission to foster US-Mexico artistic exchange, highlighting the evolution of Limón's influence across borders and generations. From Limón to Diego Vega Solorza, the lineage continues — deepening our understanding of gender, expression, and the shared histories that bind us. The original music score will be created by Ebe Oke, a contemporary American composer, who has a long history of blending orchestra and electronic elements. The score will reinforce the tension between traditional and modern identities.