NextMove Dance presents Momix's 'Momix Forever'

In 2016, Momix produced Opus Cactus at the Prince, and I loved it. The piece had a coherent theme — the desert — that pulled together its many short vignettes. Dancers entwined to create fantastical creatures (my favorite was a giant lizard) and seemed to fly through the air on poles.

Momix Forever, with costumes by Pendleton, Phoebe Katzin, and Cynthia Quinn, provides more of a sampler. Some of the work still drew gasps from the audience, but others relied too much on props that, stripped of their original contexts in concept pieces like Opus Cactus, lost their impact.

The best of the evening

“Marigolds,” set to tabla artist Suphala’s “Destination,” and with lighting by Joshua Starbuck, is always a crowd-pleaser. It begins with five masses of orange tulle arranged across the stage. Each mass of ruffles reveals the face of one of the company’s five female dancers. The dancers rise, tulle petticoats falling as they dance: first to low hip, and finally to mermaid ruffles on long slinky dresses covered with elaborate orange scrollwork. In a talkback after the performance, Pendleton said the dance was inspired by these petticoats, and they remain the stars of the piece, ably partnered by their dancers.

“Daddy Long Leg” was another crowd pleaser, choreographed by Pendleton and Tim Latta to Gotan Project’s song “Santa Maria.” It featured dancers Greg DeArmond, Jonathan Eden, and Jason Williams dressed as Argentinian gauchos with cowboy hats and shirts, pants with chaps, and one billowing leg covering a single stilt that left the dancer taller on one side than the other. At times, the stilt became a horse that the dancer rode. However, the dancers rose above their props for a real dance moment.

The same three male dancers performed the “Pole Dance” to a didgeridoo tune called “The Hunt (In Respect for Food)” by Adam Plack and Johnny (White Ant) Soames. The dancers, in short, black pants streaked with red zigzags, fairly flew across the stage, leaping on the tall poles and performing feats of muscular agility.

My personal favorite, “Baths of Caracalla,” was set to David and Steve Gordon’s “Reverence,” with lighting and video design by Woodrow F. Dick III (who also provided lighting for “Daddy Long Legs” and “Light Reigns,” discussed below). The piece began with the women of the company in long, flowing white skirts they skimmed out of as they danced, swirling them so the stage seemed full of flower petals blowing in the wind. Projectors dappled the swirling skirts with patches of purple light, heightening the floral effect. It was lovely.

Less successful works

“Light Reigns,” set to Deuter’s “Alchemy,” involved dancers on a dark stage shooting beams of light in several directions. If there was dancing, I couldn’t see it, and the piece seemed to exist only for the moment the dancers brought their lights together to create an effect that looked like fireworks. It was an effective moment, but the rest left me in the dark.

I was most disappointed with “Spawning,” not least because I like Peter Gabriel’s “Mercy Street” and wanted to see the company make good use of a powerful song. Michael Korsch designed the lighting and backdrop, a starry-night sky. This set the stage for four women dancers and what appeared to be exercise balls.

There was some interesting movement: sharp angling of the feet and hands and contraction at the knees. But the lighting was so high-contrast between the dark stage and brightly lit costumes that it was hard to see actual dancing.

The piece seemed reduced to four dancers in glittery unitards alternately carrying and bouncing around on top of those glowing exercise balls. It called to mind another unsuccessful attempt to turn bouncing balls into dance.

In 2006, Twyla Tharp used them (with more bounce) in The Times They Are A-Changin’, her Broadway foray into Bob Dylan. I am one of the few who actually saw that show so I can attest that those props didn’t work for her; alas, they don’t work for Momix here, either.