MOMIX Founder Moses Pendleton Named 2025 Brettell Award Recipient
Company:
MOMIX
Moses Pendleton, founder and artistic director of dance theater company MOMIX, will receive The University of Texas at Dallas' 2025 Richard Brettell Award in the Arts on November 1. The biennial award, which includes a $150,000 prize, is the highest honor UT Dallas bestows to artists.
The Connecticut choreographer and dancer is known for combining dance, acrobatics and multimedia elements into his work. He also co-founded the award-winning Pilobolus dance company.
"My aesthetic is really that connection to the natural world — the plant and animal and mineral," Pendleton said. "I take a very strong approach to allowing myself to be influenced and inspired by nature."
An advisory committee composed of distinguished individuals from the Dallas arts and performance community unanimously selected Pendleton. Dr. Nils Roemer, dean of the Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology, chairs the committee.
"He's a multitalented, transdisciplinary artist," Roemer said. "We really lucked out with him. We can plug him into so many student communities."
During his residency, Pendleton will present three public events: a dance performance Nov. 2, a lecture Nov. 3 and a photo exhibit with artist talk Nov. 4. All events will take place in the Edith O'Donnell Arts and Technology Building.
A MOMIX performance will highlight some of the company's most iconic works. MOMIX productions have been broadcast in 55 countries and appeared in commercials for Target and Hanes.
The 1991 film "Pictures at an Exhibition," featuring Pendleton and MOMIX, won an International Emmy for Best Performing Arts Special. The company has also appeared in Robert Altman's 2003 film "The Company" and numerous other productions.
Pendleton was born and raised on a Vermont dairy farm and earned a bachelor's degree in English literature from Dartmouth College in 1971, where he discovered dance. He founded MOMIX in 1980, naming it after a milk supplement for veal calves.
"I'm putting the aesthetic on the athletic," Pendleton said. "It comes from my skiing days — and growing up on a farm. I wanted to take what I knew in my body and turn it into visual poetry."
The Richard Brettell Award was established in 2016 with a gift from philanthropist Margaret McDermott. The award was named after Dr. Richard R. Brettell, founding director of UT Dallas' Edith O'Donnell Institute of Art History.
Previous recipients include landscape architect Peter Walker (2017), artist Jorge Alberto Lozoya (2019), musician Esperanza Spalding (2021) and filmmaker Domee Shi (2023).
SCHEDULE OF PUBLIC EVENTS:
Sunday, Nov. 2, 3 p.m. MOMIX: Dance Performance
Monday, Nov. 3, 5:30 p.m. Lecture: Imagination in Motion – The Art of Revealing the Unseen
Tuesday, Nov. 4, 6 p.m. Pareidolia: A Photography Exhibit
All events will take place in the Edith O’Donnell Arts and Technology Building (ATC) at UT Dallas.
