José Limón's "The Moor's Pavane": An Interview with Lucas Hoving

Author(s): Naomi Mindlin and Lucas Hoving

Source: Dance Research Journal , Spring, 1992, Vol. 24, No. 1 (Spring, 1992), pp. 13-26
Published by: Congress on Research in Dance

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1477870

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Jose Lim6n's The Moor's Pavane:
An Interview with Lucas Hoving
Naomi Mindlin

Introduction
Jose Lim6n's The Moor's Pavane, subtitled "Variations on nearly every performance of the work during my tenure wi
the theme of Othello," premiered on August 17, 1949, at the the company, and viewed films (available at the New York
American Dance Festival in New London, Connecticut (1). Public Library at Lincoln Center) of the original cast membe
The original cast consisted of Jose Lim6n as The Moor, Lucas in Pavane. The process of transmitting such an emotionally
Hoving as His Friend, Pauline Koner as His Friend's Wife, moving, complex dance work from members of one cast t
and Betty Jones as The Moor's Wife. With costumes by another intrigued me. I became convinced that the origina
Pauline Lawrence and music arranged by Simon Sadoff (con- dancers possess a depth of knowledge and perspective abou
ductor and pianist for the Jose Lim6n Dance Company) from the dance and its choreographer that is of immeasurable valu
Henry Purcell's Abdelazar, The Gordian Knot Untied, and to future generations of performers and directors of the work
The Pavanne and Chaconnefor Strings, the work was quickly With this in mind, I obtained permission from Lucas Hovin
recognized as a major modern dance classic. Now more than for an interview about The Moor's Pavane.
forty years old, The Moor's Pavane continues in the repertory My impetus for this interview was quite simply the con-
of the Lim6n Dance Company, as well as in that of many ballet viction that Lucas Hoving's unique understanding of Th
companies throughout the world (2). Moo-r's Pavane had to be explored and recorded. I wanted t
John Martin, reviewing the premiere in The New York get beyond anecdotal conversation and systematically collec
Times, declared that Limon had "definitely made a place for information of a specific nature (delineated later in th
himself among the best of them" with his latest work (3). And introduction).
Louis Horst wrote in The New London, Conn., Evening Day, Clearly, Hoving' s interview responses reflect his own memo-
"With a quartet of dancers... Jose Lim6n has, within the strict ries and thoughts, and cannot be confused with those of Jos
limitations he has set himself, produced a gripping and ab- Lim6n. Yet there is not a person alive today who was ever
sorbing composition." Horst also praised the dancers, noting closer to the role of His Friend (Iago). The critical acclaim tha
that "[t]he performance by the quartet was on a very high Hoving garnered, Lim6n's approbation of Hoving's interpreta
level, especially the stunning portrayal of the Iago role by tions, and the lasting memories of people who witnessed a
Lucas Hoving, which was one of unforgettable malevolent Hoving performance of Pavane-all testify to the urgency o
intensity" (4). gathering this information.
Lim6n himself, writing to the original cast about his thoughts In order to give myself a framework, and in an attempt to b
before a performance August 15, 1959, at the American Dance as thorough and focused as possible, I discussed my interview
Festival, marveled: project with Ilene Fox, Director of the Dance Notation Bu-
reau. I discovered that a Labanotation score of the dance was
It fascinates me to see how you will, and do, perform begun in 1963 by Muriel Topaz, and so I sought to determine
a certain passage. You are working, as do all disci- what information would be useful were the Pavane score to be
plined and conscientious artists, within a most care- completed (6). I imagined my audience to be future dancers
fully devised form, which has been meticulously re- and directors involved with the work. My goal was to uncover
hearsed. And yet you are able to give this moment valuable information about the dance as well as about the
such a range of inflection, such nuance, such endless working methods of Lim6n and Hoving.
variety! You are never the same. You cease to be mere The questions I prepared cover the following topics: history
interpreters, and become a superbly creative artist (5). of Pavane and how it was choreographed, casting requirements,
Hoving's ideas as a director of the work, movements shared
Lucas Hoving performed the role of His Friend in The by all of the characters, costuming, lighting, music, films, and
Moor's Pavane on a steady basis for fourteen years, until he Laurence Olivier in Othello. In addition, I sought detailed
left the Limon Company in 1963. information about Hoving's understanding of the role of His
As a member of the Jose Lim6n Dance Company myself, I Friend and various aspects of each scene, such as motivation,
fell in love with The Moor's Pavane from afar. I watched dominant characters, and activities of background dancers.

Naomi Mindlin is an independent dancer, teacher, choreographer, researcher/writer, and arts administration consultant.
formerly a faculty member of the University of the Arts and Associate Director of Dance Conduit, both in Pennsylvania
a member of the Jose Lim6n Dance Company from 1980 to 1982.

Dance Research Journal 24/1 (Spring 1992) 13

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 The interview was conducted and audiotaped on July 8 and Lucas Hoving
10, 1989, at Hoving's dormitory room at the American Dance Hoving began his professional dance career in his native
Festival in Durham, North Carolina. The complete material Holland in the 1930s, eventually studying with Yvonne Georgi
for the project includes a transcript of the interview, my (a disciple of Mary Wigman and Harald Kreutzberg's interna-
immediate impressions written soon after each session, nota- tional touring partner) and Rudolph von Laban. He first came
tions of nearly inaudible passages, and descriptions of ges- to the United States in 1938 or 1939 as a member of the Kurt
tures that Hoving made which were an integral part of the Jooss Ballet, and returned in 1947 after serving in the Dutch
interview (often substituting for words). In addition, Hoving army during World War II. In addition to the Jooss Ballet, by
marked a verbatim transcript by correcting spellings, suggest- the time Hoving joined the newly-formed Jose Lim6n Dance
ing missing material, or clarifying meanings or references. Company in 1948, he had already performed with the Martha
The following text is not a transcript of the spoken inter- Graham Dance Company and in several Broadway musicals
view. Although it is true to the meaning of Hoving's words choreographed by Agnes de Mille. He danced with Lim6n's
and style, this article was prepared with a sensitivity to the company until 1963 and conducted rehearsals for the troupe
difference between oral presentation and written presentation. in an informal capacity for several years after that. Hoving
The transcript of the audio tape recording and my notes and his partner and wife, Lavina Nielsen (a long-term Lim6n
written shortly after each session have been condensed and Company member), often toured with their own duet program
edited for cohesiveness and readability. between Lim6n Company engagements. From 1961 until his
This excerpt of the two interview sessions includes only retirement from performing in 1971, Hoving's own company
material about The Moor's Pavane and the role of His Friend. performed in New York as well as internationally.
I have grouped all questions and answers about one subject In 1971, Hoving accepted an invitation from the Dutch
together, even though they may have occurred at differentgovernment to reorganize dance education in his native coun-
times in the interview. For example, information about thetry, and from 1971-78 he served as director of the Rotterdam
Dance Academy. He has taught at the High School of
music for Pavane appears together here, although it was
discussed on three different occasions-twice on July 8, whenPerforming Arts and Juilliard College, both in New York City;
examining how it was chosen and how the piece was chore- the American Dance Festival in New London, Connecticut,
ographed, and once on July 10, in a clarifying follow-up and Durham, North Carolina; and many colleges and univer-
question. (Major shifts in subject are indicated here by a seriessities. In addition, his choreography has been staged by such
of asterisks that serve as section breaks.) Whenever possible, companies as the Jose Lim6n Dance Company, the Alvin
Ailey American Dance Theatre, Ballet de Bellas Artes in
descriptions of Hoving's gestures are also included. These
observations, as well as details which I added that are not a Mexico City, the Jooss Ballet in Essen, Bat Dor in Tel Aviv,
part of Hoving's statements and information clarifying names, and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens.
are placed in brackets. I have omitted phrases of habit, In 1984, Hoving began performing again in the autobio-
graphical dance/monologue Growing Up in Public, conceive
repetitions of information, out-loud memory jolting, and specula-
tive discussions. and directed by Remy Charlip. More recently, he created th
This fragment represents less than half of the full interviewrole of the physician in Meredith Monk's film, Book of Day
While keeping a home base in San Francisco, Hoving con
and is derived almost entirely from the first day's session. The
complete text includes information about costuming, lighting, tinues to teach and perform throughout the world (7).
films, and motivations within each scene of Pavane. In
addition, Hoving spoke about Virginia Tanner, other Limon The Interview
and Humphrey works, his career in Agnes de Mille's musical Naomi Mindlin (NM): Lucas, why don't we start with
theater pieces, his relationship to the acting community, and background material about The Moor's Pavane. In general
his more recent work with Meredith Monk. can you just tell me how it was choreographed?
At this time, the original interview tapes remain in a safety
deposit box in Langhore, Pennsylvania. After the writtenLucas Hoving (LH): It was my second piece. [La] Malinche
notes about the interview have been entered into a computer was my first piece. This was a very simple piece. There's no
and printed, copies of the complete materials (tapes, tran- real story in [Malinche]. I mean, a little bit .... But Pavan
scripts of the interview, and notes-described earlier in this has a real script. And a lot of detail.
introduction) will be deposited in the Dance Collection of the The Pavane was a major operation. We read the book
Library and Museum of the Performing Arts at Lincoln Cen- [Othello, by William Shakespeare]. I knew the story but then
ter, New York City, as well as other to-be-determined ar- we went back to it again. But both Jose and I are the kind of
chives. people [who] worked through our bodies, really. In fact
The interview is presented here without analysis. As such, Doris [Humphrey] probably talked more about some of the
it constitutes primary source material that can provide valu- aspects of the piece than Jose did.
able information for studies relating to Jose Lim6n, Lucas Jose could talk beautifully about anything, but not about hi
Hoving, The Moor's Pavane, and the choreographic process, dancing. We sort of looked at each other. I looked at him first
to name a few. In order to give a context to the interview, a what kind of thing does he want, and how does he use his body
brief sketch of Hoving's involvement with dance is given his weight. Then he let me do it. And then he looked at me
first. again and tried to make the adjustment. [But] there wa
actually very little talking about the book with Jose.

14 Dance Research Journal 24/1 (Spring 1992)

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 Yes. I think Pauline [Koner] and I talked [with each other]
more than we talked with Jose. I know we rehearsed together.
You see, Koner's a real perfectionist and we had to [work]
forever [with] the handkerchief, and the skirt, and the lift, and
how close [we should be], and that sort of thing.
I think that that suits me. I'm not very verbal about dancing
either. Oh, yes, I can be in teaching, I realize, but I'm never
about the creative things so much....
You realize that the third choice of music became it? The
first one [which] I was very unhappy with was modem music.
It was being composed, and every now and then we heard little
bits and pieces [of it] and I didn't go for it at all. And then Jose
found other Purcell music which we worked on, which from
my feeling was already much better. But then again he
rejected [this music] and selected new pieces. So before the
actual music score came about, we had already spent quite a
lot of time on [the piece]. And for me, I'd almost forgotten
that.
All I remember is that when we started the opening of the
final music, I said, "This is it." That felt right and it was
beautiful. And I remember I told Pauline [Lawrence] Lim6n
and she was so happy because she trusted me. I came [to her
and said], "He found the music." And from then on I feel that
the piece went almost by itself.
Oh God, you could work for days and days on a piece. I
don't remember that we did that on this piece. Because
finally, when the music was there, we had already enough
preparation I guess, [and] I felt it came very easily. Within the
six summer weeks. And several weeks were wasted on
experimenting, so it was probably in about three Lucas
weeks,Hoving in 1988. (Photograph by Stephen Perlof
maybe, that we did that piece. I think. copyright 1988, courtesy of the photographer)
We prepared in New York. Vinnie [Lavina Nielsen] was
then standing in for Koner who was always off to somewhere
up in New York state where her husband was a conductor. I
LH: I remember reading about Olivier's reactions to the pa
think Vinnie and Ruth [Currier] even, but Vinnie-IAnd
better
how it was very "elusive." You couldn't get hold of
remember that. And Vinnie also came in when Koner was very well, I felt in the part. And then later I heard, or I re
once sick. [She] came in and went on tour with us .... that Olivier had had the same reaction. Why does he hate hi
Why does he hate Othello so much? Why? Why? Why? The
was some sort of big question mark always. Why? Oliv
NM: Did you read Othello or did you read the Italian legend
[the seventh novella of the third "decade" in Giambattista
thought that there possibly was some sort of homoerotic th
Giraldi Cinthio's Hecatommithi (1565)] (8)? there. Because there must be some reason for [Iago's] wanti
to destroy the guy [Othello]. Obviously there was also a ve
LH: Oh, we did both. The original legend and then the play.
great affection between these two guys. It is an intriguin
thing to think about.
NM: How was the legend different from Othello?

LH: I do not remember. I suppose it was less specific. There

were probably not the actions that you have in the play and LH:
thatPeople come when you play in New York City. Th
we, in a way, adopted. The development, [for example]. I made sort of a big hit, you know, so people would com
piece
cannot remember that now. It's too long ago. But I'm surebackstage
the or we'd meet at parties or whatever. I think the
way the intrigue builds, when the crisis comes, andisthe an opera .... Now, if there's no opera then [there was] an
solution [were all from Othello]. I think that we probably
actor [who came backstage once and] said, "How do you
followed the play pretty well on that. I do not rememberabout
that it?" He asked me more questions than I asked hi
because I'd never seen him [perform].

NM: I know at some point Pauline Koner mentions it, andNM:

you So how did you go about it?
mentioned it in some interview, about a movie with [Sir
Laurence] Olivier? But I think that was after the piece was
LH: Instinct. In feeling. Jose and I were perfect together. W
done (9). Do you remember if that influenced you at all?didn't analyze that deeply. Doris was the one who talked a

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analyzed. And Doris would analyze for us, too. You know, in? [Hoving shakes his head "no."] When he got the musi
I may have told you about this, because that was a part of my did he get it all at once?
whole life. [I can picture] Doris's figure, a presence, sitting
there and not saying anything and going like this [gestures LH: Well, I don't think we started at the first bar and we w
swigging from a bottle]. I kept watching her. Because she was to the next bar. We had experimented with all these litt
already much bothered then by her hip, and she was always in sections. We had had any number of rehearsals on that. Th
the back next to us. She took her little bottle and [gestures duet that I did with Jose, that fight duet-I'm sure that
drinking from a bottle] when she was in pain. Medicine. worked on that totally separately. And I did different thi
with Koner. Then [there were] the group things. So there w
NM: Well, How did you develop [the movement]? Do you really three types of rehearsals for that piece.
remember? Did you use images?
NM: When you were doing it though, did you always have
LH: The form was pretty well choreographed by Jose. It's idea of what the order was going to be?
incredibly cleanly structured. The nuances, the inner energies
or the projections and all that [were] much [from the dancers] LH: No. No. I didn't.
ourselves. All four of us, we found our own way and occa-
sionally, occasionally Doris would say something. Jose was NM: So, just at some point, there was the piece?
in it so he never saw it.
I know that for the first couple of years every performance LH: Yes. For instance, that duet that Koner and I did w
was a time again that I would get deeper into the part. How in the original version. There were two solos.
[do I do] the timing, and what, and how [am I] breathing with
it, and all this sort of thing. NM: Which duet was that?

NM: Do you remember how the specific movements [devel-
oped]?
LH: Jose choreographed those and then we would say, "It
doesn't sit quite well, Jose. Can I do this?" Or he'd look at
it and say, "No, it does not. You're right. It doesn't look well."
Jose choreographed it.
NM: Then do you know what his specific ideas were for each
of the roles? Say, for your role, did he have recurring themes?
LH: No. I mean we sort of had agreed on what the character
was-that he was elegant, that he was aristocracy. But then
the motivation, what went on in that mind-we never talked
about it too much. We sort of got into that among [ourselves].
And, oh God, how that piece changed over the years.
Because it's incredible; we performed it so much. So now I
see some film-maybe the first one [by] [Walter] Strate (10)?
[Pavane] has a long way to go.
LH: Where I finally get the handkerchief from her? [Where
she sort of teases me with the handkerchief? That was
originally not in. I mean, in the rehearsal period. There w
the other two solos. And then very late- ... like three da
before the opening-it was decided, no solos but the one du
[And so] late at night, Koner and I went into the gymnasi
at Connecticut College-and then she had the [performanc
skirt, too-and we choreographed. We sort of choreograp
that duet. I remember, because that [evening's performa
must have been a Humphrey program that we were not
because I know they were performing and we were in the g
working. That was [before] the opening we did in the fi
year, '49 ....
All long pieces always happen in bits and pieces.
I think that was probably the major change-that these
solos were cut. I don't even remember my solo. Koner
course, still has a little bit of solo in it.
NM: The handkerchief solo.

NM: When you worked in silence, when you didn't have the LH: Yes. Yes. But none of us had.
music-how did you do that (11)?

LH: I do not remember. Did we work in silence? See we had

the three scores. I think that first score was not existing whenNM: What were examples of things that were solved o
we started. So we must have worked in silence. I do not time? I know you just mentioned the duet with Pauline [th
remember what we did in silence, if we worked in silence. We
was added the night before the opening]. But I think there
may have tried some of the lifts, some of the fight, whensome
we place where you referred to how the end of the wh
do these low drops [indicates a movement as in the fight piece
scene changed over time.
with Lim6n, where Iago is pushed backward and forward on
his knees]. We may have done those. LH: Yes. And Doris did that on the night before the
Really the piece only got to be when we had the final music.
performance. I do not remember what the other versions were.
Before [that] it was always sort of, "Try this. Try that."All
AndI know [is] that that was very typical. I've had that in more
it never felt right, quite, because the music wasn't right....
pieces-that at the very last moment, Doris made the end.

NM: [You once mentioned in an interview that there was

NM: Do you remember the order that it was choreographed

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something] solved when you did the piece again for the White NM: How did Jose know [the pre-classic form
House [in 1967] (12). You joked about how there was know them before? [Hoving shrugs his shoulders
something that was solved after twenty years. Do you remem- he does not know (13).] Did he research them, do
ber what that was?
LH: Maybe he just listened to the music, and then f
LH: That time that Koner and I had at the end [when] we come the sense of timing and the topic set up the whole
forward and then go and meet [at downstage center]. [This is
"the curtain," when Iago and Emilia block the view of NM: Did the rest of you know what the forms we
Desdemona's murder.] [That] became a diagonal for the
video, and we felt that it was much stronger. I think that may LH: Well, I had had Louis Horst['s course on]
be the point. I felt it was much more direct, that we were sort dance forms. And I'd been his assistant, so I sort
of pulled to a point there. And I don't think I've danced it them. But Jose never bothered about that.
since, so I don't remember.
NM: You were Louis Horst's assistant?

LH: Sure! Louis was my father figure for me.

NM: What was the structure of the piece?
NM: And how about Betty [Jones] and Pauline. Do you kno
LH: There are several pre-classic dance forms. Louis [Horst] if they knew them?
analyzed those forms very much for the dynamics and all
that-rhythm, the flows, staccatos, the measure. But there are LH: Well, I don't know if they knew them exactly-if they
several of these pre-classic dance forms-the galliard, pa- had worked with Louis. I had done Louis, twice, and I'd be
vane, chaconne. They all have certain characteristics and Jose assistant to him from the Martha Graham time. The music
selected those that were right for the emotional texture of that implies what [the] tempo and dynamics [are], and all that.
particular scene.

NM: So [did] just the group sections [follow] those forms, or

also [sections with smaller groupings]? NM: Over the years, as you forgot the piece, how did you
reconstruct it? What did you use to reconstruct it?
LH: It's almost all group.
LH: I was constantly doing it. There may have been a longer
NM: Was each [group section] really a specific [pre-classic time lapse, but not so that you would forget the piece. Oh,
form]? God, no. We worked on it so much that it couldn't go. In our
sleep, we could have done it.
LH: Yes, pretty well. Now how strict [was Jose]? But the
quality [was there]: is it slow, is it very stately or is it very NM: I wondered, actually, [about recovering it] before you
bright. That sort of thing. And that fit beautifully for the did it at the White House.
quality of the piece ....
LH: Mm. Then there had been a long break, huh? And we
NM: So then he also got some of the gestures, and some of really got out of the mothballs for that, Koner and I. Jac Venza
the movements from the ... from the Boston NET-TV wanted the original version (14).
And maybe the piece had been shelved for awhile. Because
LH: No, not really. The gestures surely not. There's a I was already gone from the company. '63, I believe, was my
moment at the beginning when the two couples are [down-last tour. The Orient tour, I think was my last tour. So I had
stage] and the women have their hands on the men. That mightnot been with the company for five years. Koner had been
very well be close to one of the pre-classic dances, but I don't
away. And so then we got together and it was sort of lucky that
know. the White House happened then also. So it was good. There
was the interest in it from the White House and then the final
NM: So it was mostly the dynamics and structure ... film ....
We went to the original cast. The movement, for all
LH: Yes. Yes. Yes. I'm sure, had changed. We adjusted. And, particularly o
solo bits. Or sometimes, indeed, we said, "It never wor
NM: And spatially. Let's try this." The fight thing, between Jose and me, wa
of tricky. Some of the things with Koner are very tricky
LH: And, the crossing of the couples, and then athe getting
piece that you've danced for fourteen years is in your
You don't
around each other. They're rather obvious patterns, have to get it back. It's there.
but then
[the original pre-classic forms] were not the most terribly
complicated patterns. After all, they were danced in So
NM: front
just of
by beginning to work on it, it came back
the courts ....

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 do casting, or how [Limon] might have done casting for the
different roles. What were the qualities necessary for th
piece in general and also, specifically, for each role? So my
first question is, in your mind, what are the qualities o
movement that are really necessary for the piece?

LH: OK, well, each character was different. Jose .... Of

course, I see Jose in the role. And that was the weight and the
enormous gesture that always came out of [gestures from the
middle of his body, his gut]. And the power. It has to be a very,
very strong character.
My part? Much lighter [gestures with open-palmed hands,
bouncing them lightly on the air]. Much more labile. The
quality of whispering. [Hoving repeats the movement of his
head, cocked slightly to the side, as he did it in the piece,
behind Lim6n's back.] I always think of intrigue-making a
statement without projecting it.

NM: What do you mean, "making a statement without

projecting it?"

LH: Well, it was very often a sort of whispering. I whisper

Jose Limon and Lucas Hoving in The Moor's Pavane. (Pho-
tograph by Walter Strate, courtesy of the Jose Limon Dance
Foundation)
to Pauline, I whisper to Jose. That was so secretive, sneaky,
a sort of snakelike thing. When I plant the seed of mistrust or
whatever with this movement, I'm behind him, and I whisper
in one ear and then look. Snakelike. Because Jose was solid.
I've never understood Koner's part as she did it. With bot
Lola and Vinnie, I tried to analyze it and I realized then tha
[the role] was actually very unclear, that it was Koner mor
than [the role].

NM: Do you mean the part itself was unclear?

LH: Yeh, yeh, yeh, yeh.
Koner split first, all of a sudden, from one day to the next
on the South American tour. Koner left (15). So then I had
at least Pat [Christopher, a member of Hoving's own trio at
the time], and Vinnie, and Lola Huth [as Emilia]. [Huth had
been a member of Virginia Tanner's Children's Dance The-
ater as a child and later joined the Jose Lim6n Dance Com-
pany.] ...
NM: But all while you were Iago.
LH: Jose-obvious. My part-obvious. Betty-obviously
a beautiful, innocent, light, ethereal creature. See, some of the
women who did the Koner part did very different versions of
it. Because Koner was always rather strong in her projec-
tions-very strong. And I know that Lola was very much
more like putty in my hands. I was the motivation. Of course,
with Koner there was not the question. She knew exactly what
she was. Probably Vinnie played it also a little like that. But
Lola was younger; she was more innocent.

LH: Oh, with me. With me. Later on there have been NM: Vinnie was more like who?
numerous other people. But Jose and Betty-they're always
there. The woman, Emilia, changed. And then, of course, ILH: She was probably sort of in between. I think also I ha
had left already .... very little time with Vinnie. That it was from one day to
next. Now you're on. Although Vinnie was a damned g
NM: When you changed from Pauline to Lola, how did actress
it also. Lola was not. She didn't know she was a g
change your role? actress. Lola had all this quality-movement quality. I lo
her in that. What a dancer....
LH: In subtle ways. Not in the real structure of the piece. PatShe was from Virginia Tanner in Salt Lake City [who]
was different because Pat was bigger so the proportion of theconsidered herself a product of Doris. But [Tanner] was right
two bodies was different. [It affected] the falls and that there on her own. She was from the early Doris Humphrey
sort of thing. period . . . [and] used all the early principles of Doris's
technique. The breath, the fall, the rebound-[these things]
never meant anything to me when Doris talked to us about
them because I didn't see it. Until I saw Virginia do it. That
NM: I'd like to [speak] more about casting-how you might
technique is almost done. I try and revive it. I explain that

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work in my classes, because I saw it there.... LH: I don't remember, but I think we probably were pretty
And Vinnie came from [Kurt] Jooss and [Harald] Kreutzberg. well on the music. We moved with the accents. I don't think
Vinnie's original was Kreutzberg. And then Jooss. And it would have been right to go against [the music, to have]
maybe [Mary] Wigman a little bit-not much. We used syncopation.
breath, and we used fall, but we didn't use that fall-rebound
thing, that sudden bouncing back. [Hoving drops his upper
body over and rebounds upward immediately, like a bouncing NM: Is it necessary for Iago to be taller? There are times when
ball.] I never saw it. That particular thing I'd only heard about you really seem to be hovering.
until I saw it in Salt Lake City.
OK. I never felt [with] Jose that it was an absolute principle LH: Yes, I was thinking. There are moments that it would be
like Graham's contraction. Jose never did anything like that.
very hard to do it. Othello would have to go way down in plie,
Whatever the piece demanded: it was there. It was created.
like when you want to [do] the whispering in the ear. I think
* *c *; *; * *
they both should be sort of the same size. For that whole duet
part, [Othello and Iago] have to be eye to eye. A very tall or
very small person would not work, I think.
NM: If you talked about each of the characters in terms of how
they moved in space, what their rhythms wereNM: Evenand what
if the Moor the
were tall, and Iago were shorter.
dynamics were for each role, how would you characterize the
Moor, [for example]? How does he move inLH:
space,
I don't rhythmi-
think it would work. Because Iago is a strong
cally, and dynamically? character. He is the strong thing in the piece, really, because
he takes the most initiative.
LH: All right. Weight. Weight. Jose used a lot of breathing
himself. I would say weight would be the NM:most important
In the whispering, was it more the whispering or more
thing. Betty-light, breathy. Koner and me?the hovering?is what
Koner
Laban called "central"-starting from the center of the body.
She did that herself. It was very much motivated
LH: Well, thefrom the . . . the description . . . ask or
function
center. [She was] a mature woman, so with whispering.
plenty of weight.
But there was this hovering. Actually, I was not
You could imagine how it was just floatingjust inaround
the cornerin that
with him. I was always actually casing him.
[costume].
Is he catching on? And that's what that moment is that he turns
And, I'm basically myself because of the
and Iduality of the
back up [shortly after Iago whispers to the Moor for the
character. There was always a kind of wavering between
first time, one right corner]. I go on that diagonal
in the downstage
thing and the other. There was a duality about that character
and I watch: Did I go too far?
I always feel. As I said: who is he? Who was he? What was
his motivation? What is he after? So that probably came out
in the movement. I've never analyzed it intellectually, but I
NM: We've
feel that I've held that in awareness-that kind of actually
quality.covered a lot of my first questions about
the movement sources and the images that you had specifi-
NM: What do you mean by the "duality"? cally for Iago. Would you like to add to it?

LH: I said
LH: Well, the hate-love thing. Why does something
[Iago] hatejust now about that whispering. The
[Othello] so much? Because he loved him. In essence, I
believe that is the whole key [to] Othello's thing. I think [it
is] this relationship of Iago towards Othello.
NM: How about rhythmically? Did each of the characters
have their own rhythm?
LH: No, not much. Of course with Jose, the weight deter-
mines the rhythm a little and the weight makes the breathing
different. And with Betty you could say that at certain
moments, her rhythm would be a very light, almost weightless
thing. But we always did those pre-classic steps. So that
determines much of the movement qualities. And the rhythm
was very much determined by the piece of the music we
danced to.
NM: How about when you were on or off the accents? Was
that also determined by the form?
end, of course, is very different. [For] that final thing, I'm
very restrained. You know, the final thing when Koner and I
cover up the movement [of Desdemona's murder], and I then
let [Emilia] go and say, "Look. There it is." I'm very
restrained. I had to be low-keyed for the piece, but my
motivation there was really almost madness. [And] in the very
ending, there are tremendous changes ....
First, I have the final thing when I hold her skirt. I go once
more and say, "Listen, I've got a surprise for you." And then
I say, "Look. Here's the surprise." [He gestures with two arms
out, palms presenting, as he did toward Desdemona's prone
body near the end of Pavane.] That could either be terribly
soft or that could be screaming at it. And then that going back:
we just back up there, and that's when I always went a little
crazy. [Does a movement of the head sort of teetering on the
neck, one hand circling easily near the ear]. It's really a
demented sort of thing. And then when I'm on my knees,
[Emilia] is low. We go along the body. For the ending, I'm

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totally demented. I feel that I'm totally unfocused. All we do
is step back.
I go strangle her and then Josd gets us. He throws us down
and we once more crawl along the body. And the final gesture
is sort of like an apotheosis.
Ah, it's an incredible part. I wonder how I would do it now.
If that would be possible, physically. But that would be a very
interesting experiment to do it now, after forty years (16).
Because I don't think any of us realized our potential as actors,
actually. But you know it seemed that it would have been
impossible to create that piece-or to dance the piece-if
there is not an actor in there, in the rehearsal. Although we
came as actors from very different places, all four of us. I feel in the opening, who I was in a particular performance. And
I'm much more Stanislavski. The method. I feel that that was
me.
NM: In what sense? What does that mean to you?
LH: Well, as far as I understand, to really go back all
Who is that character and what makes him tick? Jose? I felt
Jose was more kabuki or noh than anything else.
interpretation, and there was a villain from the beginning to
the end. Then the pathological, destructive person. Then the
person almost hypnotized, or moved by ulterior or interior
powers beyond his control. There were performances that I
could almost say I was weeping inside through the whole
performance.
NM: How would that make the movement [change]?
LH: It really affects the shade, the tempo or the intensity of
the movement. And I had to do that, otherwise I'd go crazy.
I would not be able to keep it alive. And then it'd come to me
there were performances that I was just purely faking it. But,
very rare. Very rare. I think those were really very rare,
because it was a rich, rich experience. You could always hook
onto something and take off. More so than any other role I've
ever had. I always loved to be an actor. So I like to go into
that sortway:
the of thing. I enjoy it too much to be acting-not to be
involved. But there must have been performances that you
think, "I'm going to forget this one."

NM: And what does that mean to you? NM: Actually, in the letter that Jose wrote to you on the tenth
anniversary [of Pavane's premiere], ... [he] referred to how
LH: That he could put the mask on and be it. When his face you [all] joked about doing a second-rate first-rate performance,
was towards the audience, then he carried the mask. And or a first-rate third-rate performance.
when he'd turn around, there was no mask there. Now,
sometimes he even made faces. Jose was incredible. Like, in LH: Ah, yeh. Yeh. Yeh. Yeh. Yes, Jos6 was incredible. We
the opening, [when his back is to the audience]? Sometimes had to tell him, "Come on, Jose. Get yourself together."
. . . [imitates Lim6n by screwing up his face]. He was Really. Simon Sadoff [pianist and conductor for the Lim6n
unbelievable. And then he'd turn around [toward the audi- company], when he was still alive, was the court jester. Jose
ence] and there was this face: the mask was on again. called, "Simon, come. Simon, where are you? Tell us ...."
Koner was Jewish theater, I think. I think. Much emotion. And then Simon had to tell jokes-the dirtier the better. And
Betty, possibly more like me. I think Betty really always Jose roared with laughter. In the dressing room. In intermis-
became that young, innocent creature. But whoever talked sion. And there were certain nights that I thought, "I've got
about that in the company? There was no talk about that. It to get myself together. I don't want to hear him tell dirty jokes
just happened to be. Gradually we started to realize, "Heh, tonight." Like, Traitor. I had to really get into that man. And
what are you doing?" Ah, it was incredible. Really incredible. then Jose sometimes told dirty jokes and screamed with
laughter, and [he would] hit me on the shoulder [and say],
* * * * * *
"Lucas-laugh!" And [I'd respond], "Jose, please. I've got
to be Christ in a minute." But that was Jose.
NM: When you think about your role as Iago, what remained
constant and what was allowed to change? Or what was the
essence, the central essence, and then what was allowed to
change around it? NM: So how did you get into the role? What would you do-
beforehand? When you weren't telling jokes.
LH: Well, the essence was the story. I mean, what was Iago
to Shakespeare? I don't believe that
LH: In Venetian legend
acting, you try first [was
[to] erase everything and start from
central]. [And] there was that character.
a blank piece of paper and then let it fill up. Because, as a
Now the changes were from a matinee matter of fact, to an
Pavane wasevening
not that hard a role. Actually. I
performance. [They] could be totally always felt the religious
different pieces were much harder to do
performances.
Or when you've done it night afterbecause
night, then
you really had it becomes
to get to that placeawhere you can be
very different thing. And when we Christ,
haveorbeen be the angel
offoffor Annunciation,
awhile, or whatever, like in
then all of a sudden it's a different The
partVisitation.
again. Or Emperor Jones; you know I did all three
character parts in that. In a one minute costume change, you'd
be a totally
NM: Can you think of, say, two or three different person.
different That gets [to be] relying on
interpreta-
tions that you have done? technique almost more than [anything].

LH: Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. There was the villain NM: I know there were times when you did many perfor-

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mances in a row, or you did an afternoon and an evening
performance. But under optimal circumstances, how would
you prepare for the role before the performance?
LH: Well, [the way] I prepared for all total involvement
performances: you get empty. [Hoving gestures with the side
of his hand against his body, finger tips going down the center
of the body as water drains down a pipe.] You let everything
go and then you start from scratch. Where am I? And what
was good in Pavane-probably [for] all four of us-[was that]
we'd get ready and we'd stand [in the opening circle]. There's
the overture and we all sort of let it all get away. And then we
go from there.
brought me back for Bloomer Girl after the war. And she also
got me to teach in the theater. I could not have come back to
this country. But I had a contract for Bloomer Girl. They
needed me .... That's how I got back into the country.
And then I did all three of her shows. She had all three
shows-[Bloomer Girl,] Oklahoma and Carousel. And so,
through them and through the theater wing, I got to work a lot
with actors. I love working with actors. And they felt that I
talked their language ....
Jooss had Michael Chekhov, [Anton Chekhov's] cousin.
And he ran the theater school in Dartington Hall [in England].
NM: So you studied with him or you worked with him?

NM: But, say, when you were in your dressing room, did you
have an idea of how it would go that night?
LH: No. No.
NM: You just emptied yourself before.
LH: I didn't study officially, but they worked in the theater,
and I'd sneak into the theater and sit in the back. And then I
became very good friends with the actors, and so there was
that interchange. So I've been very closely connected with
acting a lot. That's how I could do all these character roles.

LH: For me, I could not have been luckier because I got to be
the actor I always wanted to be, and I was the dancer NM:I I always
do remember seeing you coaching Robert Swinston [in
wanted to be. Ah, and with Jooss, too. But I was so much early 1980 with the Lim6n Company]. [Swinston was a
younger when I was in the Jooss Company. member of the Lim6n Company from 1978-1980 and has been
in the Merce Cunningham Dance Company since August,
1980.] [I have a] very strong memory of how detailed your
work was with him. How do you coach people in your role?
NM: Can you think of specific parts of your role that changed
over time and evolved into what they are now? LH: Well, you go from the inside out, I guess. Mostly, I really
work from the inside out. What is it inside? Who is this person
LH: What they were at the end, [when I stopped performing and how does he move? And how does he react to the world
Pavane], you mean. I suppose so. I'm sure that they all got around him? In dance, of course, you cannot go all the way
much richer in the standing up. because you always have to have the dance movement. And
you have the music to follow. But as much as that allows you
NM: Can you think of any sections of the dance that were to, you go about it like any director does, I guess. Particularly
really radically changed, or was it really mostly the interpreta- the "method" [Stanislavsky]. And then there are also very
tion that was changed? basic [questions]: What is his body weight? How big are his

LH: No, I think that I tried to get more weight as I kept going
on. In the very early [times, I] was like a big insect. I
sometimes feel there is no real kind of digging in. It was just
going over [the surface]. And I did not like that quality in ' .... . B
myself. Although it was probably right for certain parts. But
actually, I was always very self-critical. But I do feel that I
became more aware of weight. And I found that a beautiful
tool: I could get lighter and heavier according to the place the
character was in. I learned a hell of a lot in those fourteen
years.
And I did a lot of work with actors. I lived in the Village.
I always went to-oh, God-name it. [Jerzy] Grotowski
when he was there. I mean, I traveled all over Brooklyn and
the Bronx with them to see every possible show or lecture that
he gave. I worked with that man who's connected with Uta
Hagen. I worked a lot with actors. I coached several actors
[in] movement. Mary Martin, for instance, in Peter Pan. She
came for movement classes to me. But there were more. Pauline Koner, Jose Limon, Lu
There were more. (left to right) in The Moor's Pav
I taught for the theater wing, of course. Agnes de Mille Strate, courtesy of the Jose Lim

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movements? How does he feel? How does he involve his LH: I think that's when he gives her the handkerchief.
breathing in the movements? This is a terribly underrated or
ignored thing, you know. NM: How would the breath be in the different scenes with
Jose?
NM: The breath.
LH: In the secretive [parts], the whispering: as Ijust said, very
LH: Oh my God. I am amazed that people will never use thatshallow, and very, very much on the alert-"How is my
word. You know, every move you make-everything you saymessage coming on?" [For example, in that duet that] starts
is done with breath. Well, it's the same with your movement.with these little jumps and then he drags me on that diagonal
That simply always amazes me, and I don't know how I got and I crawl back. I cannot say that I'm thinking, "At this
it. From Jooss, or from Laban, or from my work with actors? moment, I must breathe like this," but it's part of the move-
I did a lot of voice training-both speaking and singing. I didment. Like when I hang onto him. I've got to exhale, totally.
at least five Broadway shows. And, if you're lucky, youHe dragged me, and then when I crawl back on the floor.
always have a little line somewhere as a dancer .... That's mostly [demonstrates total exhalation].

NM: How would you use the breath in coaching Iago? NM: That was exhaled.

LH: Well, the breath is like a basic thing, like the basic voice LH: Also, there's that moment when I stay behind and the
production. Any emotional change affects your breathing. three of them go forward with that big thing [indicates one l
[He demonstrates a change: "I forgot something" (catches his lifting slowly to the side]. I stay behind and then he come
breath). "Oh, no. I didn't forget it" (breathes easily).] The back, and he just puts a hand on my shoulder. I catch my brea
speed of the inhaling, the amount of time that you hold it, and at that moment. Did he catch on? Oh, he didn't catch on.
then the speed of the exhaling. That's what it's all about. I like
to talk about breath as voice production. You know, getting NM: I think the next scene that you have with him is when y
the breath from way down in the stomach. But emotionally, do have the handkerchief.
acting-wise, it is the tempo of the breathing. And the deep
breathing-if it's shallow or very deep. I do talk about it all LH: I grab it, if I can hold it. I tuck it in my [belt]. Then that's
the time in class-particularly in composition classes, but in obvious, the breathing is very slow. It's really obvious. I
technique, also. You know, it's obvious that if you let the mean, to me it's very obvious that there are certain moments
breath come to work with the movement, it gets easier. that you change your breathing. Particularly with the gesture
and the stops.
NM: So how would you work with movement, with the
breath, in that sense? Would you train in each thing?

LH: No. No. OK, the whispering. Well, you need very NM: Did you used to talk your way through the role in your
shallow breathing that you control and you whisper. It's verymind?
light breathing. What I said before-that final gesture [after
Iago shows Desdemona's body to Emilia] when I say to LH: Sometimes. Sometimes. Sometimes I did say the words,
Koner, "There they are." That's, "There they are!" You hear the words. Yes.
know, you spit it all out. And then, by the same token, that
walk backwards [immediately following]. I have a feelingNM: Is that how you coach people to do it? How do you coach
that when my feet hit: Hah. Hah. Hah [done as if catching people?
his breath]. Like that: Hah. Hah. Never quite letting it in.
Or-hah-cold. And that's how I placed my feet. LH: I have not coached that many people. Rob Swinston
maybe more than anybody. And I do not remember how
NM: By the breath? exactly I gave it to him. And I've been very aware that what
is, for me, very easy and second [nature] may be something
LH: Yes. Mmhm. And equally, not into gear. I floated. Ithat other people have absolutely never heard of, or thought
was no more connected with her. I floated over. Ah, let's see
about. And when you're teaching, it's one thing-when
what else. you're going step by step. And then when you have to try to
Yes, when I try and get Koner to become part of the intrigue, teach somebody your part who has to go on the next night, you
to get the handkerchief for me. That happens very early on in don't get to all these details.
the very first opening, I think. I sort of go over to Koner, and
I whisper. I keep my eyes on her hand, but I whisper to her. NM: How do you get the person to get to all the details?
And the breathing is [like] whispering. It's very secretive. [I] Obviously you can't hold their hand through it, but how do
hold very much in seserve, and [use] very shallow breathing. you get them to get to the details?

NM: That's really when Jose gives Betty the handkerchief. LH: Well, you must also rely on what they have. They

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supposedly have a talent and know-how. They're not just
beginners, right. A lot of us have our own methods. When
you've been performing, when you perform as a soloist, you
create your own methods. You've got to have something to
hold onto. And you cannot ever be coached from second to
second. You get big hunks ....

NM: If you had a brand new cast, how would you teach them?

LH: I would have them learn the places in the music, and
rhythm of the music, and then the spaces. They should have
that. And then I would start from scratch: Now, who are we?
And where are we? Where do we come from? That's never
happened.

NM: That's never happened, that you started [from scratch]?

LH: It's obvious. That's a repertory piece. I think it's a

gorgeous piece. I'd love to do a piece like that.

NM: You'd like to make a piece like that.

LH: Yes. The clean structure. I think Jose did that gor-
geously-that shape of a star and then that breaking out and
then coming back again. And then, how fantastically it was
organized. How he took all the emotional things like his duet
[with me], my duet with Koner, his duet with Betty-they're
beautifully structured dances, but they're a continuation of the
message, of the growth of the personalities. That's a gorgeous
piece. Jose Limon and Betty Jones in The Moor's Pavane. (Photo-
graph by Walter Strate, courtesy of the Jose Limon Dance
NM: Are there group movements that you all have also Foundation)
individually? In other words, is there a sort of basic vocabu-
lary?

LH: No. For him and for me, there are formal parts: the
bowing and the gestures to the women. There's the star in the NM: One of the things that everyone seems to say is that when
middle. That exists in the formal parts. And then when the Jose did have a new person in a piece, he would really re-
four of us come forward in a [diagonal] line and that dissolves, choreograph some sections for them.
and the women circle back and [the men] circle forward.
That's when I [makes "pst" sound] call him and I whisper. LH: I would say that's "yes" and "no." Sometimes "yes,"
That's right at the beginning. It's a galliard, I think. It's the sometimes "no."
second dance; it's the new piece [of music]. At those
moments, we had the same movements. And then, of course, NM: If you were teaching Pavane, would you ever take that
the man's variation and the women's variation came immedi- liberty, or would you pretty much do it the way you did it the
last time?
ately. And the rosette comes back twice in the ending and
always breaks up again. When we come back to [it, the] hands
[are] together; we're all leaning away. LH: Maybe here and there a little subtle gesture, but the
structure of The Pavane is such that, obviously you just can't
NM: Sometimes, I wondered whether there were groupfiddle with it.
movements that were then later used individually. There's a
NM: Louis Falco said that it was changed a lot for him, but
way that that meshes the piece. Or [I wonder] if there really
weren't and what I see as related, is just an accident. there's no film of it for me to really see (17).

LH: See, he may have meant his solo bits. Could very well
LH: No, that is probably true. That's probably true. The same
movements come back. A variation, maybe. First it was withbe. Could very well be. He did it with Jennifer Muller for
the whole thing, and, later it may become this very bigawhile. [It] would be so different: Jennifer and Louis were
traveling movement. Something like that. No, no. Some of probably exactly the same size.
these movements keep coming back. Jos6 was the most accommodating choreographer. The

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poor guy would change it, you know. [I'd say], "Jose, don't
change it. I'mfine the way I'm doing it." But many times Jose
was too accomodating. I would imagine that for Louis and NM: I would love [it] if you would say anything that you'd
Jennifer, that it would be very [different]. I don't think I've thought about the piece and wanted to record.
ever seen them do it together ....
LH: Ah... I think it's one of the incredible pieces that we ha
NM: How would you coach [the Lim6n Company]? If you the privilege to do. It's an incredible piece. I keep sayin
had the chance to coach them. "Boy. I'll be lucky if I .. ." [Hoving knocks on his desk.
Touch wood. I didn't know what I was getting into when I
LH: I would start from scratch. As long as they know the started with Jose, you know? Malinche? OK, yeh. It was a
steps: OK. Now we've got to do the character. Who are you?nice piece. I wasn't crazy about it. But, then there wa
What are you? And how do you walk? And how do you react? Pavane, and all of a sudden .... And, of course, it was a rar
thing that happened: to get such a solid piece out of that.
And all that. People are coached so you learn the step: you're
doing the step wrong, or you're on the wrong beat, or some- don't think Jose knew that he was making a piece that wou
last and last. He didn't know. I helped dye the costumes, a
thing. And it is not so that we had so many sessions like that,
but we did it out of our own needs. that is just one of those things.
Like the first reviews .... I remember Louis Horst. Louis
NM: You did it among yourselves? was this incredible, special person. Then I read his reviews,
and thought, "Well, it's Louis. Sweet Louis." Because
LH: Yes, we did it for ourselves. Connecticut College was not as big a thing as this [American
Dance Festival at Durham, North Carolina] where everybody
NM: Did anyone ever direct you like that? comes. So, it's been an incredible thing.
You know, Koner's a rather difficult lady. But it was right
LH: No. Doris may have sometimes directed us more or less in that role. You see, she [kept] asking, "Come on, my skirt.
in some of her own pieces. But in a very different way-And my handkerchief." That seemed all part of the thing. And
always a dancer's way, very much almost spatially and all thatit was part of the thing. But it was right. [And] Betty was an
sort of thing. Agnes, for instance, is a much more theatrical absolute angel. Yes, it was just a real, incredible coming
director than they are. She loves these little crazy folk-danceytogether of the right things...
steps, you know? But then she wanted to really have those feet
be the character.

N [OTES

1. This research was supported by a grant from the Com- 5. Jose Lim6n, "Letter to Pauline, Betty, and Lucas on the
monwealth of Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. I would like occasion of the 10th Anniversary of 'The Moor's Pavane,"' 1
to thank Ruth Currier, Selma Jeanne Cohen, Norton Owen, September 1959, Folder 483, Jose Lim6n Papers, NYPL.
Stephen Perloff, and Ann Vachon for their help during the
preparation of this work. Lucas Hoving gave so generously of 6. The score begun by Murial Topaz is not yet in a final form.
his time, energy, and knowledge, and for that I am deeply
Ilene Fox, Director of the Dance Notation Bureau, suggested
grateful. that it would probably be possible to complete this score (as
opposed to starting all over again) and the Bureau would like to
2. Information on The Moor's Pavane is from "The Moor's do so. However, there are no plans to do this in the foreseeable
Pavane-Background Notes," computer files of the Dance future. (Telephone conversation, 27 September 1991.)
Collection of the Library and Museum of the Performing Arts at
Lincoln Center, (a branch of the New York Public Library,
7. Information about Lucas Hoving is derived from the fol-
hereafter cited as NYPL), and notes on The Moor's Pavane,
lowing sources: "Biography," section of program for "An
program, The Jose Lim6n Dance Company at City Center, Evening
New with Lucas Hoving," The Painted Bride Art Center,
York City, 29 January-3 February 1980, p. 38. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 28-29 October 1988; "Dance On:
Lucas Hoving," videotaped interview with Billie Mahoney, 27
3. John Martin, "The Dance: 'Pavane'-Impressive Work by 1986, NYPL; Lucas Hoving, interview with Naomi Mindlin,
July
Durham, North Carolina, 10 July i989; "Who's Who in the
Lim6n on Theme of Othello," The New York Times, 28 August
1949. Company," program, The Jose Lim6n Dance Company at City
Center, p. 40; and telephone conversation with Hoving, 29
December 1991.
4. Louis Horst, "The Moor's Pavane Seventh Premiere at Dance
Festival," The New London, Conn., Evening Day, Thursday, 18
August 1949, Louis Horst Scrapbooks, NYPL. 8. Lim6n refers to wanting to base his dance on the old Italian

24 Dance Research Journal 24/1 (Spring 1992)

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legend and not create a "'retelling' of Shakespeare's Othello" in sity Press, 1989], pp. 234-235.)
his "Letter to Pauline, Betty, and Lucas ..."
13. Hoving said "yeh" on the audio tape, but the notes I wrote
9. Othello, starring Laurence Olivier as Othello, Maggie Smith shortly after the interview describe the shrugging gesture and
as Desdemona, Frank Finley as Iago, and Joyce Redman as my understanding that it meant he did not know.
Emilia, arrived in New York in early 1966, three years after
Hoving left the Lim6n Company. It was based on a production 14. In trying to find this film, I discovered it had been produced
of Britain's National Theatre. The following reviews appeared at WNET, the New York public television station. When I
in New York City newspapers: Bosley Crowther, "The Screen: called the station offices, Jac Venza still worked there. I believe
Minstrel Show 'Othello'," The New York Times, 2 February a mislabeled copy of the WNET film is now at the New York
1966; Kate Cameron, "State Production of'Othello' on Screen," Public Library at Lincoln Center with the catalogue description,
Daily News, 2 February 1966; and Judith Crist, "Olivier Paints "Kinescope of an unidentified telecast." (Jose Lim6n, The
Othello Ridden by Neuroses," New York Herald Tribune, 2 Moor's Pavane, 3/4" U-matic videotape, 195?).
February 1966.
15. Koner injured her foot while on tour in Santiago, Chile, 20
10. Walter Strate made a film in 1950, with Ruth Currier as His September 1960. Lola Huth went on in Pavane the next night.
Friend's Wife and without that character's handkerchief solo. (Koner, p. 231.)
(Jose Lim6n, The Moor's Pavane, motion picture directed and
photographed by Walter Strate, 1950, NYPL.) 16. In San Francisco in the fall of 1991, Betty Jones danced her
original role of The Moor's Wife in a one-time performance of
11. I suspected Lim6n had worked without music because The Moor's Pavane celebrating the 79th birthday of Lucas
Hoving had mentioned this in a tape-recorded conversation with Hoving. (Lim6n News 2, no. 1 [November 1991]:2.)
Ann Vachon, 1979 or 1980 (made available to me by Vachon).
17. John Gruen, Interview with Louis Falco, phonotape, 1976,
12. The original cast performed The Moor's Pavane at theNYPL. This was broadcast 3 May 1976 by radio station
Lyndon Johnson White House on 19 February 1967. (Pauline WNCN-FM, New York, on its series, "The Sounds of Dance."
Koner, Solitary Song [Durham, North Carolina: Duke Univer-

ADDITIONAL SOURCES

"American Dance Festival Gala." Cassette 2: Interview with "Dancers and the Dance." Interview with Carla Maxwell and
Jose Lim6n; introduction by Lucas Hoving, Betty Jones, excerpt
and from The Moor's Pavane. 1984. 1/2" VHS videotape,
Pauline Koner to performance of The Moor's Pavane. 1978. NYPL.
3/
4" U-matic videotape, NYPL.
Ferrer, Jose. "The Role of Iago in Shakespeare's Othello." The
American Theatre, Vol. 1, No. 1 (August 1945): pp.7-9.
"Appendix C: Sources of Othello." In The Tragedy of Othello
the Moor of Venice, by William Shakespeare, edited by Lawrence
J. Ross. New York: Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc. 1974,Gruen, pp. John. Interview with Ruth Currier, broadcast 29 March
262-275. 1976 by radio station WNCN-FM, New York on its series, "Th
Sound of Dance." Audio tape recording, NYPL.
"Appendix: The Source of the Plot." In A New Variorum
Edition of Shakespeare: Othello, (1886), edited by HoraceHorosko, Marian. Interview with Lucas Hoving, recorded Jun
Howard Fumess. New York: American Scholar Publications, 1965 for broadcast on radio station WNYC's series, "World o
Inc. 1965, pp. 372-389. Dance." 1965. Audio tape recording, NYPL.

Charlip, Remy. "Growing Up in Public: The Making of an
Autobiographical Dance for Lucas Hoving/conceived and di-
rected by Remy Charlip." Contact Quarterly, Vol. 13 No. 3
(Spring/Summer 1988): inside front cover, pp. 29-44.
Conway, Peter. Interview with Pauline Koner. Transcript of
interview recorded March and June, 1975. NYPL.
Dance On: Lucas Hoving: Billie Mahoney interviews Lucas
Hoving. 27 July 1986. 3/4" U-matic videotape, NYPL.
Hoving, Lucas. "Notes from a Contemporary Romantic." In
Dancers Notes, edited by Marcia Siegel. Dance Perspectives,
Vol. 38 (Summer 1969): pp. 6-11.
Koner, Pauline. "Intrinsic Dance." In The Modern Dance:
Seven Statements of Belief, edited by Selma Jeanne Cohen.
Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 1969,
pp. 77-89.
Solitary Song. Durham and London: Duke University
Press, 1989.

Dance Research Journal 24/1 (Spring 1992) 25

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 "The Truth about The Moor's Pavane." Ballet Review, .The Moor's Pavane. 195?, 1974, 1982. 3/4" U-matic
Vol. 8, No. 4 (1980): pp.387-396. videotape, NYPL.

Lim6n, Jose. "An American Accent." In The Modern Dance:
Seven Statements of Belief, edited by Selma Jeanne Cohen.
Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 1969,
pp. 16-27.
. Daily Calendars/Diaries 1942-1959. Box #663, Jose
Lim6n Papers, NYPL.
. The Moor's Pavane. 1950, 1951, 1953,1957. Motion
picture, NYPL.
Shakespeare, William. Othello, The Moor of Venice. Revised
edition edited by Gerald Eades Bentley. The Pelican Shakespeare.
New York: Penguin Books, 1970.
"Spoleto '80." Interview with Clay Taliaferro and performance
of The Moor's Pavane. 1980. 1/2" Beta videotape, NYPL.
Stahl, Norma Gangel. "Conversation with Lucas Hoving."
Dance Magazine, Vol. 29, No. 8 (August 1955): pp. 44-45, 54.

26 Dance Research Journal 24/1 (Spring 1992)

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