Following its highly successful March 2024 Auditorium Theatre engagement, MOMIX dance company returns to the Chicago area with its critically acclaimed production of “Alice,” inspired by Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” at the McAninch Arts Center, 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 2. Splash Magazine says, “… it would be nearly impossible to find a more creative accounting than the one by the internationally lauded dance illusion company MOMIX,” and Around the Town Chicago calls it, “a stroke of genius!” A free MAC Chat with the company will take place immediately following the performance in the Belushi Performance Hall.
MOMIX: "Alice." Photo by Sharen Bradford
“Alice,” inspired by Lewis Carroll’s timeless novel “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,” features unique lighting, imagery and costumes to frame the MOMIX dancers’ fascinating and awe-inspiring performances. As Alice’s body grows and shrinks and grows again, dancers extend themselves by means of props, ropes and other dancers in a performance blending illusion, acrobatics, magic and whimsy. “Alice” was conceived and directed by MOMIX’s founder and artistic director, Moses Pendleton. Per Pendleton, “I don’t intend to retell the whole Alice story but to use it as a taking off point for invention.”
The cast of “Alice” includes Glen Ellyn’s-own Hailey Green plus Jared Bogart, Heather Conn, Nathaniel Davis, Derek Elliott Jr., Seah Hagan, Oksana Horban and Adam Ross.
MOMIX is a unique company of dancer-illusionists who blend dance, illusion, acrobatics, and props in a theatrical setting. Founded by Pendleton in 1981, the group has toured on stage internationally and worked in film and television. Accomplishments include shooting a national commercial for Hanes underwear, performing on PBS’s “Dance in America” and appearing in a Target advertisement that aired during the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards.
Before MOMIX, Pendleton co-founded Pilobolus Dance Theater, where he toured internationally as well as performed on Broadway, which jump-started his dancing fame. Other notable credits include choreographing the Closing Ceremonies of the Winter 1980 Olympics at Lake Placid. Captivated by nature and animals, most of Pendleton’s pieces are often inspired by the beautiful entities of our natural world. His artistic interests include photography as well.
Associate Director of MOMIX Cynthia Quinn started performing with the company in 1983. She has assisted Pendleton with his creative ideas in numerous ballet performances throughout the United States and Europe. Quinn has also made appearances in films beginning with her role as “Bluey” in “FX II” and later was a featured performer in Emmy Award winning “Pictures at an Exhibition.”
Tickets
The McAninch Arts Center, located at 425 Fawell Blvd. on the campus of College of DuPage, presents MOMIX “Alice” at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb 2. Tickets are $55-$65. For tickets visit www.AtTheMAC.org or call 630.942.4000. The McAninch Box Office is open Tuesday – Saturday, noon – 6 p.m. and two hours prior to performance.
About the MAC
McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage is located 25 miles west of Chicago near I-88 and I-355. It houses three indoor performance spaces (780-seat proscenium Belushi Performance Hall; 186-seat soft-thrust Playhouse Theatre; and a versatile black box Studio Theatre), outdoor Lakeside Pavilion, plus the Cleve Carney Museum of Art and classrooms for the college’s academic programming. The MAC has presented theater, music, dance and visual art to more than 1.5 million people since its opening in 1986 and typically welcomes more than 100,000 patrons from the greater Chicago area to more than 230 performances each season.
The mission of the MAC is to foster enlightened educational and performance opportunities, which encourage artistic expression, establish a lasting relationship between people and art, and enrich the cultural vitality of the community. For more information about the MAC, visit www.AtTheMAC.org or @AtTheMAC on Facebook and Instagram.
Support for the McAninch Arts Center is provided in part by Brookdale Senior Living Glen Ellyn, Anonymous, College of DuPage Foundation, Sullivan Taylor Family Trust, DuPage Foundation, Ball Horticultural, Frank Modruson & Lynne Shigley, Enjoy Illinois and Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. Media Sponsor is WDCB 90.9 FM, Hotel Sponsor is DoubleTree by Hilton Lisle/Naperville.
Established as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization in 1967, the College of DuPage Foundation raises monetary and in-kind gifts to increase access to education and to enhance cultural opportunities for the surrounding community. For more information about the Colleg