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Fall 2025 NYC Season

Photo by Kelly Puleio
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The Joyce Theater Foundation, in association with the José Limón Dance Foundation, Inc., presents
Limón Dance Company

FOUNDER
S
José Limón and Doris Humphrey

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Dante Puleio

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Michelle Preston

ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Logan Frances Kruger


THE COMPANY
Natalie Clevenger • Joey Columbus • Ian Debono • Mariah Gravelin
Johnson Guo • Stephen Haley • Deepa Liegel • Ty Morrison
Olivia Mozie • Jessica Sgambelluri • Savannah Spratt • Lauren Twomley


MUSICIAN
John Marcus

DIRECTOR'S NOTE

Choreography: José Limón (1942)

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

for Unaccompanied Violin

Violinist: John Marcus

Staging & Direction: Logan Frances Kruger

2022 Lighting Design: Al Crawford

 

Dancers

Members of the Limón Dance Company, Limón2, Company Alumni, Students and Limón Family
Kathryn Alter, Lily Ching, Natalie Clevenger, Joey Columbus, Alice Condodina,
Natalie Desch, Daniel Fetecua Soto, Logan Frances Kruger, Ryoko Kudo,
Ashton Layne Rivera, Florence Lin, Nyah Malone, Nathan Podziewski, Jonathan Riedel,
Adi Saban, Frances Lorraine Samson, Aaron Selissen, Savannah Spratt, Maxine Steinman,
Mary Ford Sussman, Lauren Twomley, Nina Watt (10/14, 10/15, 10/18, 10/19)

 
The Chaconne as a dance form originated in Mexico during the Spanish occupation. Bach employed the strict musical form of the Chaconne but enriched it with powerful emotional implications. Limón has tried to capture in his dance both the formal austerity and the profound feeling of the music.
In celebration of our 80 years we are bringing together generations of dancers, from students to Company veterans, to represent the countless artists who have been inspired and touched by the transformative work of José Limón.

First performed December 27, 1942 at the Humphrey-Weidman Studio Theater,
New York City, by José Limón.

 

 

PAUSE

Chaconne

(10 Minutes)

ABOUT THE LIMÓN DANCE COMPANY

The Limón Dance Company (LDC) has been at the vanguard of dance since its inception in 1946. The first dance group to tour internationally under the auspices of the State Department, and first modern dance company to perform at Lincoln Center in New York, it has performed twice at The White House. The José Limón Dance Foundation, with Company and Institute, is the recipient of a 2008 National Medal of the Arts. José Limón has a special place in American culture for a social awareness that transcended distinct groups to address how we all search for commonality. It is with this ethos that we continue to commission works by critically acclaimed and emerging international voices 50 years after Limón’s passing. His works continue to influence the evolution of the art form with their arresting visual clarity, theatricality, and rhythmic and musical life. 

JOSÉ LIMÓN DANCE FOUNDATION

Board of Directors

Ivan Sacks - Chair

Robert A. Meister - Treasurer & Past Chair

Paula Carriço 

Kurt Douglas

Tina Evans - Secretary

Sylvia Ann Hewlett

Jill Javier

Jonathan Leinbach, M.D. 

Cecilia Picón

Katrina Robinson

STAFF

Dante Puleio, Artistic Director
Michelle Preston, Executive Director
Logan Frances Kruger, Associate Artistic Director
Lena Lauer, Director of Limón Institute
Cristina Moya-Palacios, Institute Administrator
Donnell Williams, Licensing Manager
Deborah Corrales, Company General Manager
Gabriel Cirio, Development & Communication Manager
Elizagrace Madrone, Membership & Development Operations Manager
William Schaffner, Stage Manager
Corey Whittemore, Technical Manager
Olivia Zacchia, Wardrobe Manager


Domestic (U.S.) Bookings 25/26
Red Shell Management, LLC;Edward V. Schoelwer, 646-495-156 | eschoelwer@redshellmgmt.org

26/27 Management, New Works Inquiries & Booking:         
Sozo Artists; +1 (917) 791-3680 | limon@sozomedia.com | www.sozoartists.com

Press Representation
Michelle Tabnick 646.765.4773 | michelle@michelletabnickpr.com

 

Founders


JOSÉ LIMÓN (Founder/Choreographer, 1908-1972) electrified the world with his dynamic masculine dancing and dramatic choreography. One of the 20th century’s most important and influential dance makers, he spent his career pioneering a new art form and fighting for its recognition. Born in Culiacán, Mexico in 1908, he moved to California in 1915, and in 1928 came to New York where he saw his first dance program. Limón enrolled in Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman’s dance school and performed in several of their works from 1930 to 1940. In 1946, with Doris Humphrey as Artistic Director, Limón formed his own company. Over the next 25 years, he established himself and his company as a major force of 20th century dance. Limón created a total of 74 works, including The Moor’s Pavane, Concerto Grosso, and Missa Brevis.

DORIS HUMPHREY (Founder/Choreographer, 1895-1958) is recognized as a founder of American Modern Dance. She developed a distinctive movement approach based on the body’s relationship to gravity and the use of weight. The company she formed with Charles Weidman produced great dances as well as outstanding performers, José Limón among them. When physical disability ended her career as a dancer, she became the Artistic Director for José Limón and his company, creating new works for him and for The Juilliard.






Artistic Leadership


DANTE PULEIO (Artistic Director, He/Him),  a widely respected former member of the Limón Dance Company for more than a decade, Puleio was appointed the sixth Artistic Director in the Company’s 78-year history, a position that originated with Doris Humphrey. After a diverse performing career with the Limón Dance Company, touring national and international musical theatre productions, television and film, he received his MFA from University of California, Irvine. His research focuses on contextualizing mid 20th century dance for the contemporary artist and audience. He is committed to implementing that research by celebrating José Limón's historical legacy and reimagining his intention and vision to reflect the rapidly shifting 21st century landscape.

LOGAN FRANCES KRUGER (Associate Artistic Director, She/Her) an Atlanta, Georgia native, received her early training from Annette Lewis and Pamala Jones-Malavé, and went on to receive a BFA from The Juilliard School.  Her extensive performing career has included work with renowned artists such as Shen Wei, Jonah Bokaer and Adam H Weinert. Logan was a principal dancer with the Limón Dance Company for 9 years, and was the Company’s Rehearsal Director for 4 years before being appointed Associate Artistic Director in 2021.  Logan has taught master classes and workshops across the globe, and is a reconstructor of Limón’s repertory. 

 



 

The Company

NATALIE CLEVENGER (Dancer, She/They), from Mooresville, IN and received her BFA in dance from the University of Arizona in 2018. Upon graduation, Natalie joined Dance Kaleidoscope in Indianapolis, IN and danced with the company for three seasons. Natalie joined Limón Dance Company in 2022. 

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JOEY COLUMBUS (Dancer, He/Him) began his dance training in the Chicagoland area before obtaining his BFA in dance from the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program. He has performed with companies such as RIOULT and Company XIV as well as at the Metropolitan Opera.

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IAN DEBONO (Dancer, He/Him) from San Francisco, graduated from The Juilliard School in 2023 with a BFA in Dance. There, he has performed works by Ohad Naharin, Medhi Walerski, Norbert De La Cruz III, Spenser Theberge, and Jermaine Spivey, among others. Currently, Ian is a performing member of The Metropolitan Opera and is thrilled to be joining the Limón Company!

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MARIAH GRAVELIN (Dancer, She/Her) joined the Limón Company in 2019 where she has performed and taught nationwide. She holds a BFA from Alvin Ailey/Fordham University (2018). She is on faculty for the Limón Institute and can be found with her camera in hand photographing when not dancing.

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JOHNSON GUO (Dancer, He/Him) began his dance training at NYC’s Ballet Tech Program. He continued his learnings at the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase. Before graduating with a BFA degree in dance performance, Johnson joined the esteemed Limón dance company in 2021.

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STEPHEN HALEY (Dancer, He/Him)  Born in New Jersey, earned a BFA from the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance, where he graduated with a composition concentration and received the inaugural Dance Leadership Award. Stephen is also an up-and-coming choreographer and finds fulfillment in creating. Stephen is also a recipient of the Merce Cunningham Barbara Ensley Award 2025.

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DEEPA LIEGEL (Dancer, She/Her) joined Limón Dance Company in 2021.  Originally from Seattle, Washington.  BFA from Southern Methodist University.  Professionally worked with Mark Morris Dance Group, the Metropolitan Opera, Dance Lab NY and others.  Certified classical Pilates instructor since 2020.  Instagram: @deepaleaps.

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OLIVIA MOZIE (Dancer, she/her) born in Greenville, SC began dancing at the age of four and continued her studies at The South Carolina Governor’s School, graduating in 2020. In 2024, Olivia graduated from Boston Conservatory at Berklee with a B.F.A. in Contemporary Dance Performance. Olivia joined the Limón Company in January 2024.

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TY MORRISON (Dancer, He/Him) from Boston, received his BFA from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee performing works by choreographers Darrell Moultrie,  Catherine Coury, and Bradley Shelver. He then joined BODYTRAFFIC internationally performing works by choreographers Micaela Taylor, Alejandro Cerrudo, Fernando Magadan, Juel D. Lane, and more.

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JESSICA SGAMBELLURI (Dancer, She/Her) is a 2014 graduate of Marymount Manhattan College. Jessica has danced for Graham 2, TED Talks Live, Caterina Rago Dance Company, The Metropolitan Opera, and Buglisi Dance Theatre. Jessica joined the company in 2019.

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SAVANNAH SPRATT (Dancer, She/Her) joined the company in 2016. Hailing from Rochester, PA, she holds a BFA from UNCSA (recipient of the Sarah Graham Keenan Scholarship). Beyond Limón, she has collaborated with Madeline Hollander, Hélène Simoneau, and the Merce Cunningham Trust and enjoys knitting.

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LAUREN TWOMLEY (Dancer, She/Her) from Brooklyn, NY, is a performing and teaching artist who has been with the Limón Dance Company since 2019. She is a dancer and operations manager for Peter Stathas Dance and values connection, diversity, and play in her artistic endeavors. 

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Choreography: José Limón (1956)
Music: Heitor Villa-Lobos, Emperor Jones
Reconstruction (2025): Dante Puleio
Reconstruction Coach: Daniel Fetecua
Dramaturg: Dominique Rider
Costume Design and Construction: Márion Talán de la Rosa 
Scenic Design: Peta McKenna
Lighting Design: Corey Whittemore

 

Dancers
The Emperor Jones: Johnson Guo
The White Man: Joey Columbus
The Emperor’s Subjects: Ian Debono, Stephen Haley, Ty Morrison,
Olivia Mozie, Deepa Liegel, Savannah Spratt

 

Reconstructed with a mixed-gender cast and new scenic design, this contemporary adaptation of tyranny and masculine identity reimagines Limón’s abstraction of Eugene O’Neill’s play.

The work’s queer subtext and psychological tension come to the forefront in this groundbreaking revival.
 

First performed July 1956 at the Empire State Festival, Ellensville, New York.
*Recording of Odense Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jan Wagner of Heitor Villa-Lobos' The Emperor Jones licensed by Bridge Records Inc.

 

INTERMISSION

The Emperor Jones

(24 Minutes)

Choreography: Diego Vega Solorza (2025)
Choreographer's Assistant: Carla Segovia
Composer: Ebe Oke  
Costume Design: Julio César Delgado
Lighting Design: Corey Whittemore
Movement Advisors: Ramsés Carranco, Fernanda Salas, 
Carla Segovia, Diego Vértiz

Dancers
Natalie Clevenger, Ian Debono, Mariah Gravelin (10/14, 10/15, 10/18, 10/19) Johnson Guo, Ty Morrison, Savannah Spratt (10/16, 10/17), Lauren Twomley

A powerful response to Limón’s oeuvre by one of Mexico’s most boundary-pushing choreographers, this new work explores contemporary queer masculinity and the inherited legacies of gender performance in Latinx culture.

“This is the Manifesto of the Riders of the New Horizon...
those who refuse the order to harden, to mute tenderness,
to erase difference. Our rebellion is softness itself,
vulnerability that sparks the fire,
a gesture that refuses any fixed machine.” 
- Diego Vega Solorza

Jamelgos was commissioned by The Joyce Theater’s Stephen and Cathy Weinroth Fund for New Work. Additional support provided by Limón Innovation Fund Partners: Howard Gilman Foundation and Jody & John Arnhold Foundation. Music commissioned by Artis-Naples, Naples Philharmonic for performance with Limón Dance Company. 

Choreographer represented by Llano Arte Contemporaneo. Studio Manager Brenda Loustaunau.

                                                                         

WORLD PREMIERE

(20 Minutes)

Jamelgos

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Photo by Walter Strate

When curating Limón’s and newly commissioned works, I focus on different aspects of who José Limón was, why he made the works he did and how they are in conversation with the current moment.

 

As we sit here in election week and all that has happened these past few months, I hold onto the human instinct to rise in the face of adversity, and Limón’s belief that we will grow stronger together, not in spite of, but because of what stands in our path.

 

In creating this program I’ve been drawn to what I know of Limón and his feeling of living on the periphery, as an outsider, while holding strong to the belief in the power of community.

 

These works explore the sensation of being on the outside looking in. Reaching across decades we step inside Limón, Humphrey and Farrish’s experience of the solo figure and their response to the intensely changing world around them.

 

Dante Puleio, Artistic Director

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PROGRAM NOTES

Guest Collaborators

EBE OKE (Composer, He/Him) is a composer and interdisciplinary artist working across sound, performance, painting, composition and visual art. Their formative years on a bird sanctuary in South Georgia (US) underpin a practice that foregrounds non-human perspectives and interrogates the structures that govern identity, access, and inclusion. Ebe’s work draws on overlooked sensory registers—such as the choreographies of animal and plant life, and the tonal language of machines and birdsong—to surface forms of resonance and affective traces that move between species and systems. These expressions invite shifts in perception and offer openings for new forms of attention, relation, and ecological attunement. Ebe’s practice has evolved through a bespoke education, including composition lessons with Karlheinz Stockhausen, and mentorships and collaborations with artists such as AA Bronson, Brian Eno, and Laurie Anderson.

 

Their work has been presented internationally at venues including Tate St Ives, the Serpentine Gallery in London, The Kitchen and Pioneer Works in New York, Punkt Festival in Norway, Art Basel in Switzerland, Dommune in Tokyo, and most recently, the Biogeometry Institute for the Museum of Consciousness in Cairo, Egypt.  Ebe’s debut album, SPECIES, explores themes of identity, healing, and non-human perspectives, featuring processed bird and insect sounds woven with precise programming, string arrangements, and treated vocals. Other works include FIELD, commissioned by AA Bronson for a multi-sensory installation, and DOKUMENT #2, a collaborative live album with Laurie Anderson and Brian Eno, released as limited edition vinyl in 2020. Ebe collaborates with the tech startup Wavepaths, which integrates generative music into psychedelic psychotherapy, and is currently a composer in residence at EMS in Stockholm. 

DIEGO VEGA SOLORZA (Choreographer, He/Him) is a dancer, choreographer, and co-director of Trazo: Dance and Space Cycle, a platform aimed at making dance more visible in Mexico by bringing it to architectural spaces beyond the traditional stage. Born in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, he began his training in 2010 in Hermosillo under the direction of Miguel Mancillas and Isaac Chau. In 2014, he joined the artistic program at Danscentrum Jette in Brussels, and a year later, he settled in Mexico City, where he has become one of the most relevant figures in contemporary dance. His artistic approach challenges the historical codes of dance in Mexico, using research as a central tool. For him, dance heritage is not a limitation but a starting point for expansion and new possibilities.

 

His work integrates architecture, video, photography, fashion, painting, and sculpture to broaden the perception of contemporary dance and propose new ways of inhabiting it. He has presented his work in theaters, alternative spaces, galleries, and museums across Mexico, the United States, China, Sweden, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Japan, France, Italy, and Spain. Among the institutions and platforms that have showcased his work are museums, festivals, and independent venues that have supported the consolidation of his unique stage language. His career positions him as an active agent in redefining the body, movement, and choreography within visual and performing culture, contributing to the creation of new landscapes for contemporary dance in Mexico.

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Photo by Pablo Astorga Diaz
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