“Wings seen and unseen bear us aloft” ––– In 1966, José Limón choreographed The Winged, a ballet inspired by the metaphor and imagery of bird flight, to be danced in silence. Just prior to its premiere on August 20, however, Mr. Limòn decided to add a sound tape to accompany certain sections of the piece. After Limón’s death in 1972 and company personnel changes, the dance eventually fell out of the repertory, and for the next two decades was only performed in part. Commissioned in 1995 by The Juilliard School in celebration of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Limón Dance Company, Jon Magnussen composed a new score for The Winged working from a video reconstruction of the ballet under the guidance of Carla Maxwell. The world premiere of this new work took place in the Juilliard Theater on February 15-18, 1996, with the Juilliard Dance Ensemble and members of the Juilliard Orchestra, conducted by David Briskin.