Feb. 20, 2003 Online Since 1996 Vol 77 No. 36
MOMIX to perform surrealistic dance Stephanie Marshall
Entertainment Beat

Special to the Appalachian
Choreographer Moses Pendleton and his dance troupe MOMIX returns tonight. The troupe will perform dances to create different illusions.
    Dance illusionists MOMIX will perform Opus Cactus at Farthing Auditorium tonight at 8 p.m.
    The Office of Cultural Affairs (O.C.A.) brought MOMIX to Appalachian State University two years ago, and the crowd loved them, Assistant Director of Marketing Megan E. Hayes said last Tuesday.
    MOMIX has amazed audiences with their ability to create a world of surrealistic images using props, light, shadow, humor and the human body, according to the O.C.A. press release.
    MOMIX does many artistic and interesting dance pieces that create fascinating illusions, Hayes said. Director and choreographer Moses Pendleton created MOMIX 20 years ago, according to the press release.
    For 30 years, Moses Pendleton has been known as America’s most innovative and widely performed choreographer and director, according to MOMIX’s Web site.
    As one of the members of the ground-breaking Pilobolus Dance Theater, Pendleton went on to create his own dance company called MOMIX in the early 1980s.
    Upon creation, the dance company rapidly earned an international reputation for their highly creative illusionist choreography.
   The troupe is currently touring and has preformed at many international programs.
    They have made five Italian RAI television features, performed on Antenne II in France, been featured in PBS’s Dance in America series and were selected to represent the United States in the European Cultural Center at Delphi, according to the press release.
    They also received the Gold Medal in the 1994 Verona Festival.
    The performance, Opus Cactus, was inspired by the “Sunflower of the Desert,” the saguaro cactus, according to O.C.A. Web site.
    Opus Cactus is a series of hallucinatory events that are supposed to be Moses’ impressions of the desert. The dances are titled “Dream Catcher,” “Firewalker” and “Pole Dance.”
    Their performance will attempt to make a connection with the elemental situations and the influences of the first Americans.
    Another dance company that recently visited Appalachian State University was the Rennie Harris Puremovement, which performed Jan. 31. O.C.A. brought two dance performances back-to-back because audiences have been warming up to dance, Hayes said.
    These two dance companies differ in their music and style, yet both have amazed audiences with their energy and body usage, Hayes said.
    “Back by popular demand, MOMIX is sure to delight and amaze Tuesday night’s audience with their spectacular imagery, powerful athleticism and theatrical illusions,” Hayes said.
    The show is estimated to last for two hours and will have one 20-minute intermission.
    Tickets are $16 for the public, $14 for seniors and Appalachian State University faculty and staff and $8 for students. They may be purchased in the Farthing Auditorium box office.		  

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