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Dance takes on the outer realms

  In Psychology, there’s the ink-blot test. In dance, there’s MOMIX’s “Lunar Sea.” The dance’s use of costumes and light propels the show into a parade of black and white creatures. Figuring out which formation to focus on is half the fun and mystique.
  “Lunar Sea,” a two-part production, takes the audience on a journey from the depths of the ocean to the world beyond the moon. In part one “Sea of Tranquility” and two, “Bay of Seething,” sea creatures from the deep-dark waters and alien-like forms, from a world unknown, spring to life. The female dancers – Heather Magee, Emily McArdle, Sarah Nachbauer, Rebecca Rasmussen and Jaime Verazin – are clothed in phosphorescent unitards, allowing them to glow and transform into various beings.
   The men – Jonathan Eden, Michael Holdsworth, Rob Laqui, Roberto Olvera, Christopher Patterson – are dressed in black and serve as unseen props. The performers’ costume creates a surreal effect where the dancers appear to float, fly or swim.
   However, not everything that moves is human. Michael Curry, a puppet designer, created several props for “Lunar Sea.” During the show, angel-like creatures float and bob about, creating the sense of a celestial place.
   The soundtrack for “Lunar Sea” is as much a part of the experience as the dancing. Moses Pendleton, creator and artistic director, includes meditation-style music from the album “Buddha Experience- Zen Trance,” as well as music by movie composer Hans Zimmer.
   Since its inception, the Washington, Conn. based company has defied many dance rules. Using light, props and the human body, the company’s shows are magical and mystical, the kind of things that you usually get from Cirque Du Soliel. But with all the theatrics and acrobatics, MOMIX is still about dance.
   The company of dancer-illusionists has had success telling stories about many aspects of human life. In the past decade, MOMIX’s shows included scenes from the desert Southwest in “Opus Cactus,” the joys of sporting in “Baseball” and the Peter Gabriel co-produced “Passion.”
   “Lunar Sea” debuted in January 2005 at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Pennsylvania.  The opening scene harkens back to Pendleton’s ski days. Eight dancers sway back and forth as if going down a slope. Then the formation shifts as the dancers become suspended horizontally in the air, floating, seemingly weightless. For the rest of the show, Pendleton’s out-of-this-world imagination grows and glows.
   The New York Times calls “Lunar Sea,” “A joyous, fantastic, magical multimedia creation!”
   For many stars of the dance world, their resumes are filled with stints at the American Ballet Theatre or the Joeffrey Ballet; they matured under the tutelage of Alvin Ailey or Martha Graham. But Pendleton’s rise in the dance world took a different route.
   The farm-bred Vermont native honed his skills on the ski slopes and tight ropes. A championship skier and acrobat, Pendleton discovered dance while at Dartmouth College. There, he co-founded Pilobulus Dance Theatre in 1971. The company achieved world-wide success.
   Ten years later, Pendleton founded MOMIX. The name came from Pendleton’s solo performance at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics, where he choreographed the closing ceremonies.
   MOMIX has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, South America and Australia. The dance company is currently touring the United States and Europe with “Lunar Sea,” “Passion,” “Sun Flower Moon,” and “Best of MOMIX.”

—Diane Francis