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Tuesday night, MOMIX opened its four-week run at The Joyce Theater. It was especially interesting to see this company’s work (last night was a program called reMIX, which is a compilation of some of MOMIX’s most popular pieces; the second two weeks of the engagement will be devoted to Botanica, the acclaimed piece that was seen at The Joyce last season), because last week The Joyce featured The Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company in the Alwin Nikolais Centennial. Nikolais, who was born in 1910, was such a pioneer in both his movement and technical/production values, and you can easily see his influence on a company like MOMIX. Both companies focus less on the dancer as individual artist and more on the audience’s overall experience. Nikolais used his dancers’ bodies to form shapes and effects, and MOMIX’s dancers use their bodies to create acrobatic effects and seemingly impossible physical feats. One dancer, for instance, spun around and around while a circular curtain of beads, which she wore on her head, swirled faster and faster around her. It almost looked like a movie image, rather than a human being causing a visual effect with her movements. MOMIX’s dancers not only need to be able to dance, they also need to be acrobats and have many other diverse skills. They create an elegant, circus-like atmosphere.
MOMIX is performing at The Joyce Theater now through June 6. Visit joyce.org for more information and to buy tickets. And remember to check destinationchelsea.org often for more updates on what’s going on at the neighborhood’s many cultural destinations!