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Moses Pendleton

MOSES PENDLETON (Artistic Director) has been one of America's most innovative and widely performed choreographers and directors for over 30 years.  One of the founding members of the ground-breaking Pilobolus Dance Theater in 1971, he formed his own company, MOMIX, in the early 80’s and has been its Artistic Director since 1984.  Mr. Pendleton has also worked extensively in film, TV, and opera and as a choreographer for ballet companies and special events. 

Mr. Pendleton was born and raised on a dairy farm in Northern Vermont. His earliest experiences as a showman came exhibiting his family's dairy cows at the Caledonian County Fair. He received his B.A. in English Literature from Dartmouth College in 1971 and immediately began touring with Pilobolus, which had grown out of dance classes with Alison Chase at Dartmouth. The group shot to fame in the 1970’s, performing on Broadway under the sponsorship of Pierre Cardin, touring internationally, and appearing in PBS's "Dance in America" and "Great Performances" series.

By the end of the decade, Mr. Pendleton had begun to work outside of Pilobolus, performing in and serving as principal choreographer for the Paris Opera's "Integrale Erik Satie" in 1979 and choreographing the Closing Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics at Lake Placid in 1980.  In 1981 he created MOMIX, which rapidly established an international reputation for highly inventive and often illusionistic choreography.  The troupe has been touring steadily and is currently performing several programs internationally.  The company has made numerous special programs for Italian and French television and received the Gold Medal of the Verona Festival in 1994.

Mr. Pendleton has also been active as a performer and choreographer for other companies.  He has staged Picabia's Dadaist ballet "Relache" for the Joffrey Ballet and "Tutuguri," based on the writings of Artaud, for the Deutsch Opera. He created the role of the Fool for Yuri Lyubimov's production of Mussorgsky's "Khovanschina" at La Scala and choreographed Rameau’s, “Platee” for the U.S. Spoleto Festival in 1987.  He contributed choreography to Lina Wertmuller's production of "Carmen" at the Munich State Opera in 1993. More recently he has choreographed new works for the Arizona Ballet and the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet.  He teamed up with Danny Ezralow and David Parsons to choreograph "AEROS" with the Romanian gymnastics team.

His film and television work includes the feature film "FX II," with Cynthia Quinn, "Moses Pendleton Presents Moses Pendleton" for ABC ARTS cable, winner of a Cine Golden Eagle award, and "Pictures at an Exhibition," with Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony, which received an International Emmy for Best Performing Arts Special in 1991. Mr. Pendleton has made music videos with Prince, Julian Lennon, and Cathy Dennis, among others.

An avid and original photographer, shows of Mr. Pendleton's work have been presented in London, Milan, Montreal, and Aspen. Images of his extensive annual sunflower plantings at his home in northwestern Connecticut have been featured in numerous books and articles on gardening.  He is the subject of the book "Salto di Gravita," by Lisavetta Scarbi, published in Italy in 1999. Mr. Pendleton was a recipient of the Connecticut Commission on the Arts Governor's Award in 1998. He received the Positano Choreographic Award in 1999 and was a Guggenheim Fellow in 1977.  He is a recipient of a 2002 American Choreography Award for his contributions to choreography for film and television.