Lucas Hoving

Lucas Hoving (September 5, 1912 – January 5, 2000) 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.

Born Lucas Philippus Hovinga in Groningen, the Netherlands, Hoving studied dance with Florrie Rodrigo and Yvonne Georgi 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/ interpreter. 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 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:

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