{"id":26438,"date":"2025-10-29T17:30:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T17:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/26438\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T17:30:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T17:30:08","slug":"ut-dallas-honors-momix-founder-moses-pendleton-for-45-years-of-dance-innovation-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/26438\/","title":{"rendered":"UT Dallas honors Momix founder Moses Pendleton for 45 years of dance innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">As the founder and artistic director of the dance-theater company Momix, Moses Pendleton has spent the past 45 years blurring the line between art, nature and reality.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">Pendleton is being honored with the 2025 Richard Brettell Award in the Arts at the University of Texas at Dallas on Nov. 1. The following week, he\u2019s leading a weeklong residency at the school with students in dance, visual arts and photography.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">\u201cI feel very honored and quite surprised,\u201d Pendleton said. \u201cI\u2019ve often said that one learns a great deal from one\u2019s students. So in that interaction I\u2019m looking forward to getting a little piece of the next generation that is interested in creating new forms and intermingling with science and technology.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1600 \/ 1180\"   class=\"dmnc_images-modern-image-module__QFaG- max-w-full h-auto text-white dmnc_images-modern-image-module__9Zlll bg-gray-light object-contain\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1180\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/D4JGBMRK7NBUHFF2OWOHDRRZVI.jpg\" alt=\"Founded in 1980, Momix is known for its breathtaking visual theater, mixing dance,...\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Founded in 1980, Momix is known for its breathtaking visual theater, mixing dance, athletics,  acrobatics and ballet.<\/p>\n<p>Quinn Pendleton \/ courtesy<\/p>\n<p>News Roundups<\/p>\n<p class=\"dmnc_features-cta-social-article-cta-social-module__3beff secondaryRoman secondaryRoman-20 text-center text-gray-dark\">Catch up on the day&#8217;s news you need to know.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dmnc_features-cta-social-article-cta-social-module__8MgJa flex flex-wrap text-gray-dark secondaryRoman secondaryRoman-10 text-center justify-center\">By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0<a class=\"dmnc_features-cta-social-article-cta-social-module__lU9-l border-b border-gray-dark hover_border-0 focus_border-0 active_border-0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/help\/terms-of-service\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a class=\"dmnc_features-cta-social-article-cta-social-module__lU9-l border-b border-gray-dark hover_border-0 focus_border-0 active_border-0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/help\/privacy-policy\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">Founded in 1980, Momix is known for its breathtaking visual theater, mixing dance, athletics, acrobatics and ballet. The company\u2019s name itself is a nod to its artistic approach. Pendleton calls it a \u201cmix\u201d of movement and imagination. Momix has had production themes ranging from baseball to Alice in Wonderland.<\/p>\n<p>Related<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"aspect-ratio:190 \/ 127\" class=\"dmnc_features-article-body-embeds-related-story-module__2UraD flex-none object-cover dmnc_images-modern-image-module__QFaG- max-w-full h-auto text-white dmnc_images-modern-image-module__9Zlll bg-gray-light object-contain dmnc_images-modern-image-module__P3kZ4 w-full\" width=\"190\" height=\"127\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761759008_822_QGBPLBAEDRBNDLI5BM23HXKNTQ.jpg\" alt=\"Bruce Wood Dance Dallas will perform Wood's &quot;No Sea to Sail In&quot; at its November shows.&#10;\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">Pendleton describes the company\u2019s work as \u201ca theater of illusions and magic. High energy, funny, and hopefully a daydream and not a nightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">The Vermont native said his inspiration often begins outside the studio. Pendleton was raised as a cross-country skier. After a ski injury, he wanted to slow down but still maintain an active lifestyle so he took a dance class. He quickly learned how to express himself through rhythm in the natural world. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio:4096 \/ 2731\"   class=\"dmnc_images-modern-image-module__QFaG- max-w-full h-auto text-white dmnc_images-modern-image-module__9Zlll bg-gray-light object-contain\" width=\"4096\" height=\"2731\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/DGQB3SFKFBDBFJOQGX4TBJ64NI.jpg\" alt=\"MOMIX's &quot;Table Talk&quot; is on the program of the 2022 TITAS Command Performance.\"\/><\/p>\n<p>MOMIX&#8217;s &#8220;Table Talk&#8221; is on the program of the 2022 TITAS Command Performance.<\/p>\n<p>Sharen Bradford<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">\u201cYou could say perhaps that Momix was putting an aesthetic to the athletic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">That connection to nature has only deepened over time. When he\u2019s not teaching dancers, Pendleton is often out in the woods with a camera, capturing faces and forms hidden in tree bark, clouds and shadows. For Pendleton, both dance and photography are about revealing what\u2019s hidden and transforming the ordinary into art.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">\u201cThe whole experience of photography actually trains the eye and the brain to see many times what many people can\u2019t see. And I\u2019m very kind of involved in exploring what it is that I\u2019m coming up with,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">Pendleton\u2019s photographs will be part of his residency at UT Dallas, alongside screenings, Q&amp;A sessions and a performance by Momix. The company will also return to Dallas in June with Botanica, a full-length production at the Winspear Opera House inspired by the living forms of plants and animals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">Momix will perform at 3 p.m. Nov. 2 in the Edith O\u2019Donnell Arts and Technology Building at the Bass School of UT Dallas.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"dmnc_features-article-body-embeds-subject-tag-list-only-list-only-module__BZO7y link-blue\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/arts-entertainment\/2025\/10\/29\/album-preview-of-acclaimed-denton-band-midlake\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Denton\u2019s Midlake to release new album, \u2018A Bridge to Far\u2019<\/a><a class=\"dmnc_features-article-body-embeds-subject-tag-list-only-list-only-module__BZO7y link-blue\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/arts-entertainment\/2025\/10\/29\/many-dallas-dance-companies-have-shows-in-november-heres-what-to-know-about-each\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Many Dallas dance companies have shows in November. Here\u2019s what  to know about each<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">Arts Access is an arts journalism collaboration powered by The Dallas Morning News and KERA.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">This community-funded journalism initiative is funded by the Better Together Fund, Carol &amp; Don Glendenning, City of Dallas OAC, Communities Foundation of Texas, The University of Texas at Dallas, The Dallas Foundation, Eugene McDermott Foundation, James &amp; Gayle Halperin Foundation, Jennifer &amp; Peter Altabef and The Meadows Foundation. The News and KERA retain full editorial control of Arts Access\u2019 journalism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the founder and artistic director of the dance-theater company Momix, Moses Pendleton has spent the past 45&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26439,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[732,826,822,102,6569,160,162,161],"class_list":{"0":"post-26438","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-plano","8":"tag-article","9":"tag-arts-entertainment","10":"tag-arts-access","11":"tag-dallas","12":"tag-dance","13":"tag-plano","14":"tag-plano-headlines","15":"tag-plano-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26438\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}