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Archive for the ‘Moses Pendelton’ Category

MOMIX Dreamcatcher (State Theatre, New Brunswick, NJ, September 18, 2014)

Posted in Acrobats, Dance, Dead Can Dance, Momix, Moses Pendelton, New Brunswick, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, State Theatre on September 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »

dreamcactehr[ATTENDED: September 18, 2014] MOMIX Dreamcatcher

Sarah and I have enjoyed Momix twice in the last two years. So when we saw they were coming back with a new show called Dreamcatcher, we were right there at the box office.

As it turns out Dreamcatcher is a “greatest hits’ collection, not unlike Momix Remix, the first one we saw.  Since last year we saw the show Botanica, which has a few greatest hits of its own, that means we have seen some of these performances three times now.  That was a little disappointing. On the plus side, this is the first time we had seats in the balcony.  Our first time we had middle of the floor level, which was very cool.  Second time we were very close to the stage which was interesting for different reasons.  But from the balcony, you can see the patterns that the dancers make and you can’t see the dancers in the pieces where they are “hidden.”  (When we were close I could see the dancers, which was interesting in and of itself, but it did remove some of the magic).

I wish that I had included a “setlist” from the previous shows, to see just how many we have seen multiple times (there were a couple that were similar but definitely different in some aspect or another).  So this time I will be placing the setlist at the bottom. (more…)

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MOMIX: Botanica (McCartre Theater, Princeton, NJ, April 25, 2013)

Posted in Dance, McCarter Theatre, Momix, Moses Pendelton, Princeton, NJ, Set in New Jersey! on April 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 25, 2013] MOMIX Botancia

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I didn’t realize that we attended a Momix show almost exactly one year ago.  But that’s when it was.  That show was called Remix, and it was a collection of great bits from Momix shows.  This year’s show, Botanica, is an older show and there were bits of it in Remix.  This gave me the most unique (for me) experience of seeing a dance troupe perform things that I had already seen!  What was fun was that the dancers were (I believe) different and, it felt like perhaps the pieces were performed a little bit differently too.

One of the fun things about the show was how the pieces segued into one another–most routines didn’t end so much as meld into the next one (and you can see how picking pieces out for a Greatest Hits might require some restructuring).

We saw this show at the McCarter Theatre, where, once again we had the $20 seats (knocked down to $18 with a AAA discount!).  For this show the seats were a bit of a hindrance because Momix is definitely about spectacle, and there were a few pieces where the spectacle was lost from our angle (which was a little below the stage and off to the right).  On the plus side, being able to see the dancers up close (we were literally three rows from the stage) brought a new level of experience to the show that you don’t get when the performers are interchangeable (hey, that’s the sweaty guy, that’s the blonde lady, that’s the guy with the amazing muscles).

The show opened with a waving sheet which looked like snow.  As the sheet began rippling dancers revealed themselves underneath and starting popping up, like flowers or dolphins or gravity defying skiers.  It was very cool.   Then a giant flower-like item came out on stage and women danced around it.  There followed a wonderful sequence with black light paint as three performers with neon arms and legs made wonderful shapes–animals, faces, bodies–using their limbs.  Our cheap seats hindered this piece somewhat. (more…)

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MOMIX Remix (State Theatre, New Brunswick, NJ, April 20, 2012)

Posted in Acrobats, Dance, Dead Can Dance, Momix, Moses Pendelton, New Brunswick, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, State Theatre on April 29, 2012| 2 Comments »

[ATTENDED: April 20, 2012] MOMIX Remix

One of Sarah’s surprises for her birthday was that after an evening of fine dining at The Frog and the Peach, I had gotten us tickets to Momix.  This was a total surprise because neither one of us had ever heard of Momix.  I wanted to so something fun for us, and this show was being performed on her birthday weekend.  The write-up at the State Theatre made Momix seem weird, interesting and very cool.  So, even though we’d never heard of them, it seemed worth the risk.

A rose waited for us at our seats (A date night package for us).  The curtain went up and the music started and we were blown away from that moment on.

We decided the best description of Momix is as kind of dancey version of the Peking Acrobats (they do show up a lot in my posts).  I’ve never really seen modern dance on any grand scale, so I hesitate to call this modern dance, but what else can it be?  The music (none of it original) was primarily world/ambient (Dead Can Dance was a band I recognized).   And the men and women of the troupe performed nontraditional dances to it.

Okay, but what’s this about acrobats?

Well, the dances were more about showcasing the body–in its beauty, in its strength and in its grace.  And it was amazing to watch. Our favorite piece, called “Tuu,” featured a man and a woman.  She began the dance wrapped around his neck (by her knee?!) and proceeded to uncurl herself into amazing positions, all while he himself balanced and did wonderfully graceful moves.  And here’s the difference between a dancer and an acrobats–these dancers never wavered, never wiggled, never seemed for a second that they were uncomfortable–they were beyond graceful.  So at one point when he did a hand stand and she id a handstand on his back, it was fluid and amazing.  I mean, look at that picture. (more…)

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