Edward Schoelwer
November 29, 2024
“Aesthetic Arrest,” a term coined by James Joyce and perpetuated by Joseph Campbell, DESCRIBES exactly what happened when I attended the Limón Dance Company’s performance of Missa Brevis at the Joyce Theater in New York City on November 6, 2024.
Campbell said, “This radiance, the perception of beauty, is regarded as a communication of the hidden power behind the world, shining through some physical form.”
John Martin, the New York Times’ dean of dance critics, wrote about Missa Brevis the same way, calling it “a profound and exalting work of art” after seeing it for the first time in May 1958. Jerry Hochman in his CriticalDance review, published online on November 15, 2024, echoes Martin’s summation: “One way or another, a masterpiece doesn’t just ‘present’ something to an audience, it resonates with an audience’s mind or its heart or both. On that basis – on any basis – Limón’s Missa Brevis qualifies as a masterpiece.”
The creation of Missa Brevis followed the Limón Dance Company’s 1957 tour to Poland under the aegis of the US Department of State. Choreographer José Limón was deeply moved by what they encountered. “Against a background of cities still lying eviscerated by the savagery of war, I met human beings of courage, serenity, nobility. There was no rancor, no bitterness. Only a tremendous resolution, a sense of the future. Poland had to be rebuilt.”
Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly’s "Missa Brevis in Tempore Belli," or "Short Mass in Time of War," which he finished during the Soviet siege of Budapest, is the musical underpinning of the work. A cornerstone of Western choral literature since the 1940s, the music was scored for organ, calling to mind a church ritual rather than a concert work. The gorgeous combination of notes is stirring, but the presence of human voices highlights the sense of exultation, while reminding the listener of the vulnerability of human life.
A person might be misled about the nature of the ballet since the title includes the Latin word for a Christian religious rite. Although the work is not specifically religious, it is amazingly spiritual in what it accomplishes. Limón, who described himself as a “renegade Catholic,” borrows from Christian symbolism, but, as John Martin wrote, “Mr. Limon has here created with an intuition beyond invention with extraordinary eloquence and never an echo or a cliché.”
A performance of Missa Brevis -- above all one with live music -- is a very rare occasion because more dancers than the usual number of artists on the company’s roster are required. It is well worth the journey if you ever have the occasion to see it performed. It is good for the aching heart, especially during a time of uncertainty, affirming the resilience of the human spirit. Missa Brevis, a beautiful work, magnificently performed, exudes spiritual and psychological wisdom in a way that words can never achieve
See you at APAP '25, booth 208.
