‘Limon’ Is Enlightening but Could Use More Dance

“We want to use the human body to speak of the dignity of man” may have been the credo of pioneer modern dancer and choreographer Jose Limon. But this noble declaration belies the creativity and sheer excitement at the core of all Limon’s work--and of Malachi Roth’s new documentary, “Limon: A Life Beyond Words.”

Scheduled for a screening today at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, Roth’s 67-minute tribute to an extraordinary artist finds just the right archival footage to illustrate Limon’s journey from Culiacan, Mexico, to an exalted place alongside his modern dance mentors, Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman.

In addition, Roth interviews surviving Limon siblings and former associates to provide personal data that Limon didn’t dare reveal in the remarks filmed before his death in 1972 at age 64. For instance, Limon attributes his decision to leave the Humphrey-Weidman dance company to having outgrown one another, but we’re also told that the move was prompted by the sudden end of his affair with Weidman. You choose.

Roth’s social conscience gives the career summary a strong sense of context, and he’s adept at linking Limon’s works to the era of their creation--or the man’s own story. But the dances are never allowed to make their own statements, or give pleasure on their own terms. Presented in incoherent fragments, they merely validate things that Roth believes.

The approach might be more defensible if there were a lot of Limon out there on stage, screen or video. But the choices are meager, and one can only envy Roth all the rare dance footage he collected for this project--and didn’t include.

Those inspired by this film to seek unedited Limon choreographies and performances should start with the vintage black-and-white telecasts compiled in “Jose Limon: Three Modern Dance Classics” on VAI Home Video.

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“Limon: A Life Beyond Words” screens at 4:15 p.m. today in Spielberg Auditorium at the Egyptian Theater, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, as part of the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival. $7. (323) 469-9066.