Last week, Egyptian audiences in Cairo and Alexandria were treated to highlights of the works of renowned American dance company Momix in the Cairo and Alexandria Opera Houses.
“The Best of Momix presented chosen vintages from Moses Pendleton’s inimitable choreography, which he designed for the company that he started in 1981. Pendleton’s work, sometimes in collaboration with Cynthia Quinn, is inspired by his observations of life.
Rooted in ballet training but veering towards acrobatics and gymnastics, Momix produces its unique blend of movement and dance using props and humor in addition to extending the limitations of the human body, in vivid enthralling sceneries.
The wide variety of themes Pendleton ponders through dance are difficult to summarize. They cover numerous aspects of life, ranging from plants to sports.
“Opus Cactus captures desert life in dance. Initially inspired by a giant saguaro cactus, it presents a vivid recreation of the colorful plant and animal life inhabiting the wilderness, recreating the movement of animals, reptiles and resilience of desert cacti and succulent plants.
“Baseball elaborates in elegant movements the action taking place on a baseball field, transforming the energy of the game into a fluid poetic meditation on the nature of athletic movement.
“Best of Momix opened with “Aqua Flora, a piece from the mesmerizing performance “Bothanica. The female dancer, Nicole Loizides, carried on her shoulders a flexible structure that resembles a large skirt, similar to that of tanoura dancers. This open structure changed shape and captured light in different positions as the dancers twirled continually.
In homage to Sufi dervishes, the dancers turned around and around creating circles of movement with arresting visual impact. The chanting of Sanskrit Moola Mantra added a hypnotic effect as the dancers’ twirling movement shed new light on the relationship between the macro and mirco. The divine whirl dancing evoked the never-ending turning of electrons inside an atom as well as the eternal rotation of planets around suns; a reminder of the continuous movement of energy in and around all of us.
The program moved from one highlight to another, offering excerpts from “Sun Flower Moon, “Opus Cactus, “Passion, “Baseball and “Classics. The agile dancers/gymnasts/artists presented solos, duets and group dances. Each of the pieces had a different style and aesthetics, attesting to the genius of Pendleton and the unique signature of Momix. Words fall short and are incapable of capturing the physical and visual sensations created by this exceptional dance company.
The music choices add much depth to the visuals. Carefully selected from the world repertoire, they originate from Indian mantra chanting, African rhythms, Arabic lamentation songs, Australian beats, tribal drumming, American pop, electronic music and film soundtracks. The soundscape lends a global feel to the performance, stressing the fact that dance is a universal language, and that this dance is about all of us.
The performance ended with two powerful group pieces from “Classics. In “Sputnik, Pendleton placed a female dancer representing a goddess figure in the center of a metal pot, surrounded by three women. Three men danced on high poles around them then they seamlessly attached the poles to the central pot creating a simple sculpture that rotated on more than one axis. This prop allowed for an exploration of variations of dances with, on, and around the three-poled pot.
The minimal sculpture, which was created in front of the audience, became the basis for some enchanting movements producing magic, from all the possibilities of exchanges between the three couples, the central female figure and the exciting use of the prop.
The final piece “E.C. was the perfect mix of inspired dance and inventive technology. With spellbinding use of backlighting and shadow work, the eight dancers presented images on the screen, beyond the range of the possible. It was hard to believe that these complex images were created by the shadows of live performers. At the end of the performance, a couple of dancers walked through the screen to reveal some of the theatrical mechanics.
The magic of Momix stems from the sheer genius of exploring the full potential of the human body, sometimes using simple props with ingenious creativity.
The distinctive flavor of Momix mesmeric spectacle is a testimony to the endless creativity and power of the human mind, and capabilities of the human body under training. The riveting dancer-illusionists of Momix prove in every dance that humans are marvels, capable of performing miracles.
