![\"Jose](\"http:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Jos\u00e9_Lim\u00f3n.jpg\")
<\/a>Jose Limon.<\/p><\/div>\n
I say \u201cagain\u201d because I had seen them when I was a little girl in New York.\u00a0 But back then, the performance had disturbed me.\u00a0 My parents always took us to cultural experiences, and growing-up in the Big Apple, we had access to so much of it.\u00a0 I had erroneously thought that I was going to be seeing a flamenco<\/em> troupe, because, being very<\/em> young, I had confused Jose Limon<\/em> with Jose Greco<\/em>.\u00a0 So, when they did a modern dance<\/em> that involved death and blood, (I told<\/em> you it affected me\u2014I still remember snippets of the performance,) I was very upset.\u00a0 (I was a sensitive little bugger.)<\/p>\n So, all these years later, when I knew that the Jose Limon company was coming to town, I did my research, and finally, after decades, realized why I had such a negative reaction back then.\u00a0 And when I learned of this company\u2019s fascinating history, I could not wait to see them perform from this<\/em> end of life.<\/p>\n And I\u2019m so glad that I did\u2014all students of dance should take opportunities such as this one to see works of the old school masters.\u00a0 It was so interesting to witness several works that were choreographed way before I was born.<\/p>\n The current Jose Limon Dance Company.<\/p><\/div>\n In case your only knowledge of dance is from TV shows, (which I\u2019m grateful for, by the way, because they not only educate the masses about this art a bit, they also employ so many dancers,) let me tell you something about the style of the Jose Limon Dance Company. It\u2019s real<\/em> \u201cmodern,\u201d from before many people started referring to that style as \u201ccontemporary.\u201d\u00a0 As a former dancer, I can tell you that they\u2019re really two different styles; the differences may be subtle, but they\u2019re there.<\/p>\n During the performance at The Wallis, I actually found myself wondering just what Jose Limon himself would have thought of today\u2019s complicated choreography, such as that of Travis Wall and Mandy Moore, who\u2019ve both done outstanding work, most notably on So You Think You Can Dance<\/em>.\u00a0 I have a feeling that he would find it as fascinating as I do to see how dance has evolved; three of the five numbers performed this week-end were from the 1940s! Wow.<\/p>\n I have to admit that as first a ballerina and then a tap student and hip-hopper, modern dance was never my cup of tea. I didn\u2019t love doing it; it just didn\u2019t hit me where I live. (And when I was a little ballet student in Brooklyn, my mother wouldn\u2019t let me take modern, anyway. See if you can guess why. I\u2019ll give you a second. The clues: we were Jewish, in Brooklyn, and my mother was a worrier. Ready for the answer? Because she wouldn\u2019t let me be barefoot!!! Of course.)<\/p>\n<\/a>