The Limón Dance Company (LDC) embarks on its largest choreographic commission to date in celebration of its 80th Anniversary season, a reimagining of José Limón’s The Moor’s Pavane by Akram Khan, with performances at Northrop at the University of Minneapolis on January 30, 2027, Quick Center for the Arts in Fairfield, CTon February 3, 2027, Onstage at Connecticut College in New London on February 6, 2027, and Vivo Performing Arts in Boston from February 12-13, 2027. To purchase tickets, visit https://www.limon.nyc/performances.

Developed over a series of ten weeks in the fall of 2026 and January 2027, Khan will re-envision a one-act version of Limón’s choreographic masterpiece. On January 16, 2027, Works & Process will offer an inside look into the rehearsal process during Limón Dance Company’s residency at The Campus at Marlboro Music. Details are available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/works-process-limon-dance-company-tickets-2001638313077?aff=oddtdtcreator.

Northrop at the University of Minnesota is the lead commissioner on the project, with additional co-commissioning and development provided by Works & Process (in partnership with The Campus at Marlboro Music and Guggenheim New York). Newly announced co-commissioning partners include: Pasculano Collaborative for Contemporary Dance at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, The Music Center, Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School & Camp, and the American Dance Festival with support from the Doris Duke/SHS Foundation Award for New Works. SOZO IMPACT leads worldwide representation and is currently booking the 27/28 and 28/29 touring seasons, working in partnership with Quaternaire across the United Kingdom and Europe.

“This incredible, timeless piece was a work I had come across and studied as a young performing arts student. And although that was so many decades ago, it has remained with me and still schools me today. Most simply put, I realized even then that the work was about the human condition, in all its flaws and weaknesses. And though this work is short in length, I have always felt it to be an epic sweeping gesture of comment on our sense of who we are not, rather than who we are. And so, I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to be inspired again and now to reimagine this work through my current artistic lens…. As not to take away from Limón’s original version, but instead, to pay homage to a work that has inspired so many artists over many generations. Bringing together the voices of my creative collaborators, Zeynep Kepekli (lighting designer), Aditya Prakash (composer), and the incredible artists of the Limón Dance Company, I am looking to create an emotionally physical experience that echoes the past yet expresses the present,” said Akram Khan.

The story of Giraldi Cinthio’s 1565 “Un Capitano Moro,” adapted by Shakespeare as Othello, is a chilling tale of race, power, and jealousy. José Limón further distilled this story to four characters and the infamous handkerchief in his classic The Moor’s Pavane. Limón’s work, first performed in 1949 at the American Dance Festival, is one of his crowning achievements, and the work continues to be performed by the Limón Dance Company and the most well-known ballet companies around the world. Reexamining the themes of this work in a contemporary context reveals a connection to over 500 years of storytelling.

“Akram Khan’s reimagining of José Limón’s The Moor’s Pavane matters because it brings together two artists who, despite being separated by generations, share a profound commitment to exposing the deepest truths of human experience through movement. At its core, The Moor’s Pavane is an intimate tragedy. It is a story of relationships undone by doubt, jealousy, betrayal, and conspiracy—a world where truth and falsehood become impossible to distinguish until it is too late. It is about the devastating consequences of mistrust and the wrongful destruction of love. These themes remain painfully relevant today.” – Dante Puleio

PRODUCTION CREDITS

Choreography & Direction by Akram Khan

Composer Aditya Prakash

Lighting Design by Zeynep Kepekli

Costume Design by Harriet Jung & Reid Bartelme