Post Gazette: MOMIX founder and artistic director Moses Pendleton nurtures two passions: theater and the great outdoors.Both intertwine in "Botanica," which the company will stage Friday and Saturday at the Byham Theater, Downtown, to open the Pittsburgh Dance Council's 2011-12 season. The performance will mark the Connecticut-based group's return to Pittsburgh for the first time in several years. "Baseball," a multimedia salute to the sport, was one of its last works here, Mr. Pendleton said.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Nature inspires new MOMIX piece 'Botanica'
Post Gazette: MOMIX founder and artistic director Moses Pendleton nurtures two passions: theater and the great outdoors.Both intertwine in "Botanica," which the company will stage Friday and Saturday at the Byham Theater, Downtown, to open the Pittsburgh Dance Council's 2011-12 season. The performance will mark the Connecticut-based group's return to Pittsburgh for the first time in several years. "Baseball," a multimedia salute to the sport, was one of its last works here, Mr. Pendleton said.
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6 comments:
I am a huge fan of dance. I have seen Momix Botanica a few times and each time I was awed by the way the movement mixed with the technical elements of the show. For me this was one of those rare times when I was able to forget myself and be totally immersed in the performance. This show was inspirational and educational. The children that came to see it had great energy and seemed to be involved in the action on stage. It gives adults and children the chance to slow down and really think about the beauty of our world.
The writer has successfully captured my interest with the article on Momix's piece "Botanica". The picture alone drew me to the article. I love when choreographers or artists are inspired by the elements and energies of nature and use them to create art and movement. I have never viewed any of the work of Momix, but I would love to attend the performance to see how he uses his inspirations to produce Botanica. Also I am interesed in seeing how the lighting design impacts the piece.
In the description of this piece, one quote says that there isn’t a story to this production, a concept that he states is “unexpected”. When it comes to the format of dance production, a storyline is always a questionable choice that can either be done really well or unquestionably wrong. After seeing two Cirque shows this summer, I was confronted with this question. Although the shows had a theme, normally with a time and setting, the storyline was unclear and rather nonexistent. As I was watching the pieces, I couldn’t help but be confused with an application of the movement on stage. I found myself creating stories within the pieces in my mind to fill the blank of what was happening on stage. Contrastingly, watch a ballet provides a very in detailed and clear storyline for a dance production. This allows me to focus on the beauty of the dance with ease because of the application of the emotion from the dance.
I love seeing the different ways artists take things from life and turn them into art. Especially with dance, everything becomes so abstract, but it's still so amazing to watch. My sister is a dancer and constantly uses experiences she's had and the world around to better her dancing. It's great to see how this group takes nature and botany and turns it into dance. Also the metaphor of how people are connected to nature seems to be very effective.
I think the true success of pieces like this is the work of the designers and technicians that create the elaborate costumes and props and keep them working throughout the run. Not to downplay what the dancers are doing, but a large difference between this work and a more standard dance show is the props and costumes. I think its worth delving into thinking about what their process was in developing these elaborate pieces and how they were constructed. An article outlining these things would be very interesting. Or perhaps a backstage tour.
Before reading this article, I spent about an hour and a half looking at all of these youtube videos regarding puppetry and I have nothing but respect for this kind of art. The way in which we think and have something inanimate move on stage and how we portray a lifeless object is fascinating. I haven't seen Momix before but I have seen a few shows like it and I'm curious to see how they incorporated nature and keep the show moving. This kind of art is really a blur between modern art and performance art.
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