MODLIN CENTER TO PRESENT "MOMIX IN ORBIT"
January 9, 2001
MOMIX, the Emmy-winning company of dance-illusionists, will perform at the University of Richmond's Modlin Center for the Arts on Jan. 15-16 at 7:30 p.m. each evening.
The brainchild of director and choreographer Moses Pendleton, who also co-founded the dance company Pilobolus, MOMIX stretches beyond the expected boundaries of modern dance to create innovative and beautiful surrealistic images using props, light, shadow, humor and the human body.
The program, entitled "MOMIX in Orbit," consists of eleven dances, including two works created by Pendleton for the centennial celebration of Fiat Auto S.p.A. in Torino, Italy, in July 1999, "Discman" and "Pleiades."
Other scheduled dances include three performances presented at the Modlin Center during MOMIX's last visit in Sept. 1998: "Jonas et Latude," "Tuu" and "E.C.
"Jonas et Latude" will feature Craig Berman and Pi Keohavong as two prisoners who, during a brawl in their cell, transform their metal bunk beds into jungle gyms through gymnastic choreography. The work is performed to Vivaldi's Violin Concertos.
Keohavong and Kori Darling will perform "Tuu," which plays on the ideas of separateness and togetherness. During the dance, the two performers' bodies frequently merge into one having twice the usual number of heads, arms and legs, often with comical results.
The finale "E.C." presents the entire company as human shadow puppets gyrating behind a screen. The innovative choreography developed by Pendleton and the company presents the illusion of human bodies continually materializing, disappearing, decomposing and regenerating.
The Chicago Tribune has described the troupe as "inspired vaudevillians, creating slapstick, science fiction and improvisational surprise. Such quick, bright explosions of theatricality are delightful tricks and crowd pleasers; they give the MOMIX program a charge of amusement and excitement absent for many years from modern dance."
Tickets cost $18 for adults and $16 for senior citizens and are on sale now at the Modlin Center Box Office at 289-8980.