Lucas Hoving
Encyclopedia
Lucas Hoving was a modern dancer, choreographer and teacher most famous for the roles he created as an original member of the José Limón
Dance Company. Hoving performed opposite Limón in several of the company's best known works, including "The Moor's Pavane" (1949), "The Traitor" (1954), and "Emporer Jones" (1956). He also danced in works by seminal modern dance figures Kurt Jooss
, Martha Graham
, Agnes De Mille
, Doris Humphrey
, and Helen Tamiris
before forming his own company in 1961.
in Amsterdam before earning a scholarship to the Jooss School in Dartington, England. Among his roles with the Jooss Ballet was that of the Standard Bearer in the company's "The Green Table
." On a tour to New York with the Jooss Company in 1941, he studied at the Martha Graham School. When the Jooss Company disbanded at the onset of World War II, Hoving was invited to join the Graham Company, appearing in Graham's tribute to Emily Dickinson, "Letter to the World", in late 1941.
After appearing on Broadway in 1942 in Catherine Littlefield's "Kiss for Cinderella," Hoving joined the Dutch Armed Forces in exile. He took part in the European campaign as a wireless operator/ interpretor. In 1946 Hoving danced in the Arthur J. Rank film, "London Town" choreographed by Agnes de Mille
, who subsequently invited Hoving back to the U.S. to dance in her Broadway production of "Rape of Lucretia." Back in New York, Hoving toured a nightclub act with wife Lavina Nielsen, a native of St. Louis, MO, whom he met at the Jooss School and married in 1943. He and Neilson appeared together in several Broadway productions as well as works by the José Limón Company throughout the 1950s.
Hoving and Limón's portrayal of men's relationships on the dance stage is credited with laying the groundwork for later male dance collaborations, including that of Bill T. Jones
and Arnie Zane
in the 1980s.
and the Jooss Company among others. He also choreographed for companies including Bat-Dor of Israel, Kulberg Balletten of Sweden, Grand Ballet Canadiennes of Canada, Ballet Nacional of Mexico, and the Ailey company. In 1971 Hoving was invited by the Dutch government to return to Holland. There he assumed the position of Director of the Rotterdam Dansacademie, and later Supervisor of Dance Education for the Dutch Government.
For the next two decades Hoving traveled around the world conducting teaching residencies and workshops for institutions including Juilliard, Germany's Folkwang Hochschule, Jacob's Pillow
Dance Festival, and the American Dance Festival
. In 1981 Hoving moved to San Francisco, California, where he formed the Lucas Hoving Performance Group. He started performing again in 1984 with the creation of an autobiographical monologue called "Growing up in Public", conceived and directed by Hoving's longtime friend and colleague Remy Charlip
.
José Limón
José Arcadio Limón was a pioneer in the field of modern dance and choreography. In 1928, at age 20, he moved to New York City where he studied under Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman. In 1946, Limón founded the José Limón Dance Company...
Dance Company. Hoving performed opposite Limón in several of the company's best known works, including "The Moor's Pavane" (1949), "The Traitor" (1954), and "Emporer Jones" (1956). He also danced in works by seminal modern dance figures Kurt Jooss
Kurt Jooss
Kurt Jooss was a famous ballet dancer and choreographer mixing classical ballet with theatre; he is also widely regarded as the founder of dance theatre or tanztheater...
, Martha Graham
Martha Graham
Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on modern visual arts, Stravinsky had on music, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture.She danced and choreographed for over seventy years...
, Agnes De Mille
Agnes de Mille
Agnes George de Mille was an American dancer and choreographer.-Early years:Agnes de Mille was born in New York City into a well-connected family of theater professionals. Her father William C. deMille and her uncle Cecil B. DeMille were both Hollywood directors...
, Doris Humphrey
Doris Humphrey
Doris Batcheller Humphrey was a dancer and choreographer of the early twentieth century. Humphrey was born in Oak Park, Illinois but grew up in Chicago, Illinois. She was the daughter of Horace Buckingham Humphrey and Julia Ellen Wells and was a descendant of pilgrim William Brewster...
, and Helen Tamiris
Helen Tamiris
Helen Tamiris was an American choreographer, modern dancer, and teacher.-Biography:A founder of American Modern Dance, Tamiris originally trained in free movement at the Henry Street Settlement. She danced with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet and the Bracale Opera Company before studying briefly...
before forming his own company in 1961.
Early life
Born Lucas Philippus Hovinga in Groningen, Holland, Hoving studied dance with Florrie Rodrigo and Yvonne GeorgiYvonne Georgi
Yvonne Georgi was aGerman dancer, choreographer and balletmistress.Georgi was born in Leipzig...
in Amsterdam before earning a scholarship to the Jooss School in Dartington, England. Among his roles with the Jooss Ballet was that of the Standard Bearer in the company's "The Green Table
The Green Table
The Green Table is the masterpiece of German choreographer Kurt Jooss, and his most popular work, depicting the futility of peace negotiations of the 1930s...
." On a tour to New York with the Jooss Company in 1941, he studied at the Martha Graham School. When the Jooss Company disbanded at the onset of World War II, Hoving was invited to join the Graham Company, appearing in Graham's tribute to Emily Dickinson, "Letter to the World", in late 1941.
After appearing on Broadway in 1942 in Catherine Littlefield's "Kiss for Cinderella," Hoving joined the Dutch Armed Forces in exile. He took part in the European campaign as a wireless operator/ interpretor. In 1946 Hoving danced in the Arthur J. Rank film, "London Town" choreographed by Agnes de Mille
Agnes de Mille
Agnes George de Mille was an American dancer and choreographer.-Early years:Agnes de Mille was born in New York City into a well-connected family of theater professionals. Her father William C. deMille and her uncle Cecil B. DeMille were both Hollywood directors...
, who subsequently invited Hoving back to the U.S. to dance in her Broadway production of "Rape of Lucretia." Back in New York, Hoving toured a nightclub act with wife Lavina Nielsen, a native of St. Louis, MO, whom he met at the Jooss School and married in 1943. He and Neilson appeared together in several Broadway productions as well as works by the José Limón Company throughout the 1950s.
Hoving Partners with Limón
Hoving first met José Limón in 1946 in a New York ballet class. Limón invited Hoving to join his newly created company the following year. Blonde, lean, and lyrical in his movement, Hoving made a fitting foil for the dark haired, muscular Limón. But the duet's performance appeal transcended the men's physical dynamic. Dance scholar/ critic Ann Murphy notes:
"...these two men expanded the terrain of modern dance by giving unprecedented richness not only to male expression but to men in relationship to one another. They ignored the roles men had so often played in dance as symbols of virility or handsome scenery, and created instead a fictive world of flawed psychological men, passionately and often tragically engaged in the complex drama of living."
Hoving and Limón's portrayal of men's relationships on the dance stage is credited with laying the groundwork for later male dance collaborations, including that of Bill T. Jones
Bill T. Jones
Bill T. Jones is an American artistic director, choreographer and dancer.-Early life:Jones was born in Bunnell, Florida and his family moved North as part of the Great Migration in the first half of the twentieth century. They settled in Wayland, New York, where Jones attended Wayland High School...
and Arnie Zane
Arnie Zane
Arnie Zane was an American photographer, choreographer, and dancer. He is best known as the co-founder and co-artistic director of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company.-Early years:...
in the 1980s.
Teaching and Choreography
In 1961 Hoving started his own dance company which toured throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Among the best known works he created for the company is "Icarus," which has been revived by the Alvin Ailey American Dance TheaterAlvin Ailey American Dance Theater
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is a modern dance company based in New York, New York. It was founded in 1958 by choreographer and dancer Alvin Ailey...
and the Jooss Company among others. He also choreographed for companies including Bat-Dor of Israel, Kulberg Balletten of Sweden, Grand Ballet Canadiennes of Canada, Ballet Nacional of Mexico, and the Ailey company. In 1971 Hoving was invited by the Dutch government to return to Holland. There he assumed the position of Director of the Rotterdam Dansacademie, and later Supervisor of Dance Education for the Dutch Government.
For the next two decades Hoving traveled around the world conducting teaching residencies and workshops for institutions including Juilliard, Germany's Folkwang Hochschule, Jacob's Pillow
Jacob's Pillow
Jacob’s Pillow Dance is a dance center, school and performance space located in Becket, Massachusetts, in the Berkshires. The organization is known for the oldest internationally acclaimed summer dance festival in the United States. The facility also includes a professional school and extensive...
Dance Festival, and the American Dance Festival
American Dance Festival
The American Dance Festival is a six and four-week school for dance and a six-week summer festival of modern dance performances, currently held at Duke University and the Durham Performing Arts Center in Durham, North Carolina....
. In 1981 Hoving moved to San Francisco, California, where he formed the Lucas Hoving Performance Group. He started performing again in 1984 with the creation of an autobiographical monologue called "Growing up in Public", conceived and directed by Hoving's longtime friend and colleague Remy Charlip
Remy Charlip
Abraham Remy' Charlip is an American artist, writer, choreographer, theatre director, designer and teacher.-Career:He studied art at Straubenmuller Textile High School in Manhattan and fine arts at Cooper Union in New York, graduating in 1949.In the 1960s Charlip created a unique form of...
.