Moses Pendleton (born March 28, 1949) is a choreographer, dancer and the artistic director of MOMIX.[1] MOMIX is a dance company that he formed in 1981 as an offshoot of the Pilobolus, which he had co-founded while a senior at Dartmouth College in 1971. He remained a full-time member with the company until 1980. He choreographs dance sculptures that bring together acrobatics, gymnastics, mime, props, and film.
He attended Dartmouth College, graduating in 1971 with a BA in English Literature. In that same year he co-founded Pilobolus, which won acclaim for its blend of acrobatics, body sculpture, and humor.[3]Pierre Cardin presented the group on Broadway in 1977. Pendleton left the company to start MOMIX four years later.
Over the past 40 years MOMIX repertoire has included full-evening works such as Passion, with a score by Peter Gabriel; In Orbit; Baseball; Opus Cactus; Lunar Sea; MOMIX: Remix; Botanica[citation needed]; Alchemy and the company's latest creation, Alice.[4]
Pendleton takes much of his inspiration for his work from the natural world, plants, animals and minerals.[citation needed] On stage, portrays resemble sunflowers and marigolds.[citation needed] Pendleton states, "we're less of a dance company than a physical, visual theater, using props and costumes to create fascinating pictures."[citation needed]
Pendleton has been active as a choreographer and a performer for other companies.[citation needed]
1979 - choreographed and performed in the "Integrale Erik Satie" staged by the Paris Opera Ballet, including a revival of the 1924 Dadaist ballet "Relache."[citation needed]
1980 - choreographed the Closing Ceremonies for the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid.[citation needed]
1980 - remounts "Relache" for the Joffrey Ballet in New York[citation needed]
1988 - supplies choreographic "mise-en-scene" for a revival of Cocteau's "Les Maries de la Tour Eiffel" for the inauguration of the Florence Gould Hall at the Alliance Francaise in New York
1989 - choreographs "AccorDION" for the Vorbuhne-Zurich Theatre
1991 - "Passion" with MOMIX
1993 - contributes the choreography for Lina Wertmüller's production of "Carmen" with the Munich State Opera
1994 - "Baseball" with MOMIX
1997 - "Sputnik" with MOMIX
2000 - choreographs (with Danny Ezralow and David Parsons) "Aeros" with the Romanian Olympic gymnastics team
2002 - "Opus Cactus" with MOMIX
2004 - choreographs 12 weeks of Italian RAI-TV’s number-one-rated live variety show, Fiorello
1982 - "Moses Pendleton Presents Moses Pendleton" for ABC Arts, winner of a CINE Golden Eagle award
1984 - Julian Lennon's "Too Late for Goodbyes" directed by Sam Peckinpah
1989 - choreography for Prince's "Batdance" music video for the movie "Batman"
1991 - choreography appears in the film "FXII"
1991 - co-stars with Charles Dutoit in the Emmy Award winning Rhombus Media film of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
1990s - choreographs rock videos for the bands White Lion and Shadowfax, and for singer Cathy Dennis.
1990s - directs numerous special programs for Antenne ll in France and RAI Television in Italy
1998 - recipient of the Connecticut Commission on the Arts' Governor's Award.
1999 - recipient of the Positano Choreographic Award
2002 - recipient of the American Choreography Award (with Daniel Parsons and Daniel Ezralow) from the Academy of Dance on Film for Outstanding Achievement in Television, Variety or Special (for "Aeros: Illusion of Flight")
2010 - recipient of an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia[5] and keynote speaker at Commencement ceremonies
2012 - appointed Accademico of the Accademia Filarmonica Romana (established 1821), the first choreographer ever to receive such a distinction
2021 - recipient of an honorary Doctorate from Dartmouth College in a virtual ceremony held in May[6]
An avid photographer, Pendleton's work has been exhibited in London, Milan, Montreal, Aspen, and Rome.[7] Pendleton is the subject of the book Salto di Gravità by Lisavetta Scarbi (in Italian, 1999).[citation needed]
Pendleton was a 1998 recipient of the Connecticut Commission on the Arts' Governor's Award.[7]