Limón Dance Company’s Artistic Director Making Mid-Century Modern Dance Relevant and REAL— Interview with Dante Puleio

Editor’s Note: This interview was conducted with an eye to Limón Dance Company’s upcoming performance at the 2025 ADF and a recent review at the 92 Street Y--

"92Y Presents Limón Dance Review — Old Feels New; New Feels Classic"

Dante Puleio (DP) continues showing his prowess at translating the sensibilities of dance world insiders to the rest of us, in this interview with Picture This Post (PTP).

Puleio’s charter as artistic director, the José Limón is to focus 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.”

(PTP) How is Limón’s pioneering choreography in the early years of modern dance relevant to the contemporary dance scene of today?

(DP) In the mid-20th century, modern dance was still pretty new, and audiences were coming up against radical ideas about movement, form, and meaning for the first time. There was this sense of discovery—of witnessing a new art form take shape. Today, modern and contemporary dance are well-established.

When modern dance was just beginning to take shape, there were passionate writers like John Martin, Edwin Denby, and Louis Horst who helped bring it to life for the public. They wrote about the bold, innovative work of choreographers like Doris Humphrey, Martha Graham, and José Limón—capturing not just what the dances looked like, but also what they meant. These writers helped audiences understand the artists’ ideas and the creative process behind the performances. In many ways, their words helped define what modern dance was becoming.

Today, we don’t see that same kind of close relationship between dance writers and choreographers. So I often ask myself: as the Artistic Director of the Limón Dance Company, how can I help both longtime fans and new audiences connect with our work? How can I provide the context that deepens appreciation—whether someone has been following us for decades or is seeing us for the very first time?

It’s a unique challenge. We’re performing pieces that are 70 or 80 years old, and while our longtime supporters value that history, newer and younger viewers may not know who José Limón was or why his work matters. I want both groups to feel inspired and connected.

Fortunately, José Limón himself was flexible with his choreography—he often adjusted his dances to suit the dancers he worked with. That gives me room to honor his original vision and intention while also reimagining certain elements for today’s world. For example, we sometimes update costumes or lighting, re-record or digitally enhance the music, or cast dancers in ways that break traditional gender roles. These changes help the work feel fresh and relevant, without losing its heart.

And when I pair Limón’s classic dances with works by today’s choreographers, it creates a kind of conversation across time. We see how José was thinking, what he was wrestling with, and how those same questions show up in the work of contemporary artists.

For me, these connections are what give a performance meaning.

How do you use archival footage and similar tools to bring historic Limón choreography back to life?

It is important for us to learn a work from a specific reconstructor and understand their perspective when learning and performing that work. The role of the archives gives a reconstructor options into how the work has been interpreted and performed before, so they can build a narrative that makes sense for the work in the present day and they can walk into the restaging process understanding that work’s lineage.

What I like about the dancers having an opportunity to engage with the archival material, is they may pick up on details that are important to them - deepening their relationship with the role or the work, setting them up well - not only for performing the work but when they eventually re-stage it years from now.

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These time capsules keep our traditions rich by using the photos, videos, writings by Limón and stories and writings from former company members who worked directly with José, these give us a point of reference and insight to the original intention of a role or of a piece.

For the upcoming American Dance Festival (ADF) performance, why did you choose Humphrey’s Scherzo and Two Ecstatic Themes?

Jodee** and I spent a lot of time discussing how best to curate this program. We wanted to strike an exciting balance between new and classic rep. Our goal was to connect ADF audiences with the contemporary artists creating work on the Company today, while still honoring the legacy of Humphrey and Limón—a legacy that, in many ways, was born at ADF.

In this program, Themes and Scherzo serve as anchors and points of reference, while allowing the new works to be in conversation with the ideas of Doris Humphrey and José Limón.

Themes is Humphrey’s exploration of fall and recovery—one of the foundational principles of modern and contemporary dance. It captures that pivotal moment when dance first acknowledged gravity as a partner. Nearly a century later, we often take that for granted, but this solo reminds us how revolutionary that concept once was—and how far the form has come.

Scherzo, on the other hand, was nearly lost. It had only been performed a handful of times and was recently rediscovered in the archives. It premiered at ADF 70 years ago this summer, making its return especially meaningful. I was also looking for something brief and joyful—two things José wasn't typically known for—to show a different side of him. This bare-chested, rhythmic piece feels like four kids banging on drums and playing in a backyard. It brings a sense of levity and invites us to revisit a carefree moment in life—something that feels especially needed right now.

How was Azure Barton’s Join conceived and developed as part of this program?

When I was offered the role of artistic director, I knew I had a lot of homework to do. Carla Maxwell, who was the Artistic Director when I was a dancer, had been in the role for almost 40 years, so I started with rereading Limón’s memoirs and in it there was a passage that I hadn't noticed before.  It was a beautifully poetic description of a lost Humphrey work. He called it her stillborn masterpiece. I knew I would eventually want to see those words come to life again.

Originally I had thought I wanted a reimagining of the work - and I may still want to explore that in the future - but when I was thinking about eloquence of the writing and contemporary female choreographers, I and the dancers wanted to work with, Aszure Barton came to mind.

When we first spoke I told her my idea and said “I want these words to inspire you in a way that feeds where you are as an artist at the moment, do you want to make a film, do you want to do something immersive, where are you?”

She was interested in building something for the proscenium, and that rather than recreate what Humphrey had made she was interested in using Limón’s words as a source of inspiration. “I want to create something beautiful for them,” she said. And she did.