MOMIX Founder Moses Pendleton Talks To GoLocal
Monday, October 24, 2011
When MOMIX, the groundbreaking dance company, brings its startling Botanica to FirstWorks Festival 2011 on October 29, it will be with dance pioneer Moses Pendleton at the artistic helm.
Pendleton, a dancer and choreographer, founded MOMIX in 1981 as an offshoot of the revolutionary Pilobolus, which he'd cofounded. Pendleton remains the artistic director of MOMIX, and will be in Providence with the company when it performs the intricate, physically remarkable evocations of garden visions to the stage at PPAC.
GoLocal spoke with Pendleton this week about the upcoming FirstWorks appearance.
Tell us a little about what's coming on stage at FirstWorks.
Expect the unexpected. This season is about, I feel, going MOMIX-style through the four seasons. We start with the dead of winter, then the buds of spring, falling leaves and it repeats itself.
The major influences for me in the piece in particular was the botanical world--flowers, birds, bees, trees. Nature was the inspiration. We try to be evocative and stimulating. It's beautiful, sensual. A feast for the eyes.
Plus, there are lots of different types of sound. Vivaldi, Peter Gabriel, appearances of birdsong. It might be a fantasy, an afternoon in a magical botanical garden. It's a good story I hope the audience can get into.
In a world full of computer enhancements and CGI, do you worry that jaded audiences will no longer be wowed by the illusions and images created by MOMIX?
The most special of special effects is the human body. It's real dance theater. The dancers on stage on real, and they're doing these amazing things.
I remember we did a piece in black light, and my dermatologist was there, and he told me after that he liked it but was disappointed that the last five minutes was a computer trick. It wasn't! It was the hardest thing physically we ever did. It looked like what you do in Pixar.
See MOMIX: Botanica at FirstWorks Festival 2011, 8pm Saturday October 29, Providence Performing Arts Center. For tickets/more information, go here.
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