The Eisenhower Theater seats approximately 1,100, and is the smallest of the theaters on the Center's main level. It primarily hosts plays and musicals, operas, ballet and contemporary dance. Its namesake, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, signed into law the National Cultural Center Act in 1958, the first time in history that our government backed and helped finance a structure dedicated to the performing arts. The theater contains an orchestra pit for 40 musicians that is convertible to a forestage or additional seating space. The theater was comprehensively renovated during the 2007-2008 season, with significant improvements to accessibility, aesthetics, sound systems, and lighting.
LIMÓN DANCE COMPANY Carla Maxwell, Artistic Director
"For drama, virtuosity, and grace, there's no finer company." --The Village Voice
A leading force in American modern dance, José Limón electrified the world with his passionate choreography. Acclaimed for its dramatic expression, technical mastery, and expansive, yet nuanced movement, the Limón Dance Company has for more than 60 years illustrated the timelessness of Limón's work and vision. On November 17, the company was awarded the NEA's 2008 National Medal of Arts, the nation's highest honor for artistic excellence, by President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush in an East Room ceremony at the White House.
Celebrating the 100th anniversary of Limón's birth, the company presents a program of seminal Limón works as part of Modern Masters, the Center's celebration of American modern dance. The Traitor, one of modern dance's most significant works of the 1950s, was Limón's response to the McCarthy hearings and the climate of betrayal that haunted the arts and entertainment fields during this period. Against Gunther Schuller's musical score of violence, passion, and tenderness, the tragedy of Judas is portrayed as if it were taking place today. Psalm, created in 1967, was restaged and directed by Artistic Director Carla Maxwell in 2002 and paired with a new score by Jon Magnussen. A beautifully conceived ritual of rhythm and song, this piece contains some of the most virtuosic ensemble dancing ever created.
Of the Suite from A Choreographic Offering, set to Bach's A Musical Offering, the Los Angeles Times says, "Limón's extension of the body's expressive scale [is] especially luminous."
Performance Plus: Post-performance discussion on Friday, January 16, FREE with your performance ticket.
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