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. THE DIRECTOR Thoughts on Staging José Limón’s La Malinche Sarah Stackhouse Alexander Pope, in his second Essay on Man, wrote, “[Man is] created half to rise, half to fall.” José Limón devoted his life to choreographing that thought. In many of his dramatic works man is either falling or being felled, often because of his own nature. This is true of Limón’s La Malinche, created in 1949 from the history, sights, and sounds of Mexico stored in his memory. It is one of Limón’s optimistic works, one of the few in which the fallen rise to triumph. La Malinche is based on a Mexican theme and is, to use Louis Horst’s term, an “Earth Primitive” work.1 Limón used the naive quality of a rural band of traveling players to relate the story. His program note reads, “Malintzin, an Indian princess, was given to Cortés on his arrival in Mexico. She became his interpreter and mouthpiece. Her astuteness and complete devotion served his cause so well that he was able to conquer Mexico. She became a great lady and was baptized Doña Marina. After her death popular legend made her repentant spirit return to lament her treachery. For her there was no peace while her people were not free. During their struggles for liberation she returned as the wild Malinche to expiate her ancient betrayal.” The original cast included Limón as El Indio, Pauline Koner as La Malinche, and Lucas Hoving as El Conquistador (Cortés). Limón and Hoving were perfectly matched antagonists in their visual contrast, spatial use, and dynamic patterning. Koner harmonized with each, when partnered by them. Hoving was a tall, fair, long-limbed, northern European who seemed to take possession of the space with the angular shaping of his legs in deep plié. He accented and gave dynamic color to his phrasing with remarkable arm and hand gestures. Though he used medium or even light energy he nonetheless projected control, decision, and a sense of internal power. In contrast, Limón carried the heat of Mexico in his veins. He could be impulsive as a dancer, hurling himself through space, but he also could seem to become one with the earth, The Director  holding it down with his very weight. As is true of most of the roles Limón created for himself, in El Indio there is a sense of the nobility along with the tragedy of man. Koner was a match for both men and was able to contrast each with her incisive dancing. She too was dynamic and dramatic, a master of gesture and quick, etched movement. Wiry against Hoving’s long, rangy stature, she could also meet Limón’s explosive power with her condensed energy. Norman Lloyd wrote the musical score for the completed dance. Lively and forthright, the music is in the style of a rural mariachi band. The marchlike, rhythmic music in the beginning and end contrasts marvelously with sections of lush, melodic, female vocal line. STYLE As in many of Limón’s works, the Dionysian vies with the Apollonian, the primitive with the aristocratic, as they did in his life. La Malinche, with its rhythmic drive and folk quality, was part of Limón’s early investigations of his Mexican memories and heritage. I find it valuable to request that new cast members do some research, so that they begin to form an understanding of the style parameters of La Malinche and to fill their minds and eyes with Aztec and Mayan images . Time permitting, it’s an enjoyable project to go to the library with the dancers and share our findings. We look at images of Aztec art and architecture of sixteenth-century Mexico and of more recent Mexican folk art, in particular its form and color, so relevant to the style of the dance. Also revealing are the murals of Rivera, Orozco, and Siqueiros, along with paintings depicting the Spanish conquerors, images of guerrillas of the Mexican Revolution, raptors and fighting cocks, and historical writings of the period. In the first steps of the prologue, the primitif folk style of the players is prominent as they march into the plaza. They recall the painted terra-cotta figurines of Mexican folk art. Direct in their expression and movement, they have a two-dimensional sense in their predominantly frontal presentation. The style is weighted and undecorative with strong rhythmic drive. They set the stage...

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