Ralph Lemon facts for kids

Ralph Lemon, born on August 1, 1952, in Cincinnati, Ohio, is a talented American artist. He is a choreographer (someone who creates dances), a director of a dance company, a writer, and a visual artist. Even as a child, Ralph was very creative. He first expressed himself through painting. Later, he found dance and used movement to share his ideas and feelings.

Ralph Lemon's Amazing Career

Ralph Lemon started his studies at the University of Minnesota. He focused on literature and theater arts. After graduating in 1975, he trained with Nancy Hauser, a famous dancer. She even asked him to join her dance company!

Before joining Hauser's company, Ralph helped start the Mixed Blood Theater Company in Minneapolis in 1976. Later, he moved to New York. There, he danced with Meredith Monk and her company. In 1985, Ralph started his own group, the Ralph Lemon Dance company.

Over the years, Ralph has worked with many well-known dance groups. These include the Limón Dance Company and Alvin Ailey's Repertory Ensemble. He also performed in a video documentary with another choreographer, Bebe Miller.

Awards and Recognition

Ralph Lemon is famous for working with different art forms and musicians. He has received many awards for his creative work. Some of these include:

• The National Endowment for the Arts choreographic fellowship
• The American Choreographers Award in 1987
• The Gold Medal, New York Dance and Performance ("Bessie") Award in 1987

After ten years of success, Ralph decided to close his dance company. He wanted to explore other artistic interests.

He received a Creative Capital Performing Arts Award in 2000. In 2012, he got the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award.

In 2015, Ralph Lemon was one of only twelve people to receive the National Medal of Arts. This is a very high honor for artists in the United States. In 2018, he received the Heinz Award in the Arts and Humanities. In 2019, he was given the Francis J. Greenburger Award. This award recognizes artists who are very talented but might not be widely known by the public.

Since 1991, Ralph Lemon has lived and worked in New York City.

The Geography Trilogy Project

Ralph Lemon spent ten years creating a special series of dance projects called the Geography Trilogy. This trilogy used dance to explore important social and political topics. It looked at how different cultures meet and how people find their own identity in a big world.

During this ten-year project, Ralph also wrote two books. The first, Geography: Art, Race, Exile, went along with his dance piece Geography. The second book, Tree: Belief, Culture, Balance, was connected to his dance Tree. The third part of the trilogy, Come Home Charley Patton, also became a book. Ralph created these books because of the many experiences he had. These included physical challenges, emotional moments, spiritual connections, and cultural differences.

Exploring Cultures Through Dance

The main idea of the Geography Trilogy was to connect with and understand other cultures. Ralph experimented with his art in three different parts of the world:

• Geography was created in Africa.
• Tree came from Asia.
• Come Home Charley Patton brought Ralph back to the United States.

His creative journey began with Geography in Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea, Africa. Ralph wrote journals about his experiences there. He explored what it meant to be an "American, African, brown, black, blue black, male, and artist." He wanted to create art about his culture and connect with his heritage.

Next, Ralph traveled to Asia for Tree. This dance was inspired by Buddhism. It explored how cultural values can sometimes clash, especially when it comes to performance, identity, and old traditions meeting new ideas.

Ralph finished the trilogy in the US with Come Home Charley Patton. This piece looked back at a time in history when people were separated by race. The performance showed how different generations remember important events and places. It also explored how traumatic memories can be shared through art.

Ralph Lemon's Artistic Style

Ralph Lemon is known for his special way of showing strong feelings and stories through movement. He is currently the artistic director of Cross Performance Inc. in New York. Ralph always tries to be new and creative with each performance. He uses different ideas and types of art to share his messages.

In his earlier works, Ralph used costumes and props to help the audience understand the story. By the early 1990s, he started to focus more on the body and movement itself. Ralph uses his knowledge of art and anthropology (the study of human cultures) to inspire his dances. However, he is careful not to change the true cultural meaning of traditional dances.

Performances and Works

Here are some of the dance pieces Ralph Lemon has created:

Early Works (1984-1993)

• 1984: Ant's Burden (solo), Romance, Folktales and Romance 4, Boundary Water, Folktales with Men and Oranges, The Last Nights of Paris and Georgette
• 1985: Plan de Liebe, Forest (duet), And the Jungle Will Obliterate the Shrine/Seasons, Scarecrow
• 1986: Flock, En Su Llama Mortal, Two (with Bebe Miller)
• 1987: Nightingales and Fisherman, Les Noces, Waiting for Carnival
• 1988: Happy Trails, Cherubino and the Nightingale, Folkdance Duet, Folkdance, Punchinello
• 1989: Joy, Sleep
• 1990: Joy (Solo), Bogus Pomp, Civilian (solo)
• 1991: Persephone, Folkdance Sextet, Folkdance Solo, Don Juan
• 1992: Their Eyes Rolled Back in Ecstasy, Their Eyes Rolled Back in Ecstasy (Solo), Phrases Almost Biblical, My Tears Have Been My Meat Night and Day, Folkdance (with Songs)
• 1993: Folkdance Sextet

Later Works and Trilogy (1996-2010)

• 1996: Konbit (a video documentary), Persephone (a collaboration)
• 1997: Geography (Part 1 of the Geography Trilogy)
• 1999: Three (a film)
• 2000: Tree (Part 2 of the Geography Trilogy), Temples (an art installation)
• 2001: Mirrors and Smoke (new media collaboration), The Geography Trilogy (visual art installation)
• 2004: Come Home Charley Patton (Part 3 of the Geography Trilogy)
• 2007: The Geography Trilogy DVD Archive Collection, (The efflorescence of) Walter (mixed media installation)
• 2009: Rescuing the Princess
• 2010: How Can you Stay in the House all Day and Not Go Anywhere