Footwork variation is most vivid in the three sections of José Limón’s Dance. The division of the dance into three sections helps correlate the similarities between footwork, rhythm, and the tempo of the music. This combination is essential in the dance display because if one of these three components is missing or lacking, the whole performance is impacted in a negative way.

In the first section, the female and male dancers’ footwork was in sync with one another. It seemed as though the females were mimicking one another and the males followed the same pattern. As the tempo of the music became fast-paced, the dancers’ footwork increased in terms of speed. There was a correlation between the tempo of the music in the background and the movement of the dancers’ feet. The dancers were in sync with the rhythm of the background music.  This was most apparent in the gliding of the male dancers across the stage when the rhythm sporadically changed. Female dancers also used their toes more than the male dancers, while the male dancers usually focused on their heels.

In the second section, the use of the heels was the most important part of the footwork. Male dancers used their heels in order to create a rhythm due to the lack of background music in that section. The female and male dancers were generally slower in terms of footwork and movement than they were in the first section of the dance performance. Male dancers also seemed more dominant because of the loud rhythm that they were able to generate using their heels.

In the third section, the most dynamic display of footwork took place. Personally, I enjoyed the male solo dance performance at the beginning of this section. The male dancer was able to utilize both his toes and heels to impress and grab the attention of the audience. I noted that the male dancers were more flexible than the female dancers. The male solo dancer was also able to change his position by using his toes only, which I found very impressive. The female and male dancers in this section were synced in terms of footwork. The footwork precision was most obvious in the way that the male dancers were able to carry the female dancers on their shoulders in one fast-paced movement. In order to do this, the female dancer had to position her feet and legs in an arched way at the right moment of time which displays the precision of the footwork. Overall, the footwork of both the male and female dancers demonstrated the countless hours of training needed to precisely carry out this dance performance.