MOMIX

ACT I Down the Rabbit Hole A Summer Day Alice Down the Rabbit Hole Pool of Tears A Trip of Rabbits The Tweedles The Cheshire Cat Advice From a Blue Caterpillar The Lobster Quadrille Mad Hatters The Queen of Diamonds The Queens of Clubs Versus The Queen of Spades The Mad Queen of Hearts Cracked Mirrors ________ Intermission ________ ACT II Through the Looking Glass There is Another Shore Into the Woods The Wolf-Spied-Her Looking Through Stained Glass Garden of Molar Bears & Other Creatures The Mock Turtle Deflated Trial of the Fallen Cards Bed of Roses Go Ask Alice

About Alice

Travel down the rabbit hole MOMIX-style with Moses Pendleton’s newest creation, Alice, inspired by Alice in Wonderland. As Alice’s body grows and shrinks and grows again, MOMIX dancers extend themselves by means of props, ropes, and other dancers. We don’t intend to retell the whole Alice story, but to use it as a taking off point for invention. I’m curious to see what will emerge, and I’m getting curiouser and curiouser the more I learn about Lewis Carroll. I share his passion for photography and his proclivity for puns. The Alice story is full of imagery and absurd logic — before there was surrealism, there was Alice. Alice is an invitation to invent, to let the imagination run wild. “Go Ask Alice,” sang Grace Slick in “White Rabbit.” She also said, “Feed your head.” You can see why I think Alice is a natural fit for MOMIX and an opportunity for us to extend our reach. We want to take this show into places we haven’t been before in terms of the fusion of dance, lighting, music, costumes, and projected imagery. Our puns are visual, not verbal. It’s not modern dance, it’s MOMIX — under the spell of Lewis Carroll, who was under the spell of Alice, who was still learning to spell. As with every MOMIX production, you never quite know what you are going to get. Audiences will be taken on a journey that is both magical, mysterious, fun, eccentric, and much more. As Alice falls down the rabbit hole and experiences every kind of transformation, we invite you to follow her. We see Alice as an invitation to invent, to dream, to alter the way we perceive the world, to open it to new possibilities. The stage is our rabbit hole — we welcome you to drop in! — Moses Pendleton, Artistic Director

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Join the Journey:

2025–26 Season at The Soraya

Each Soraya season is a journey. A word that suggests many meanings, a journey can be far from the here and now, an exploration of what’s new or novel, a return to timeless themes and ideas that are affirming beyond being familiar.

When we imagine this journey, a year or more in the planning, you are always on our minds — the many audiences from the Valley and beyond, with varied tastes and interests, unique cultures and communities, and a wide range of life experience.

The 2025–26 Season journeys farther than any previous: the nightlife of Lisbon, Buenos Aires, and Mexico City; the daily life of West Africa; the spiritual realms of Alice Coltrane and Duke Ellington; the masterworks of Brahms and the megahits of Quincy Jones; and much more.

Explore the Season

Opolo Wines is a proud sponsor of The Soraya.

A TASTE OF PASO ROBLES WINE COUNTRY

About Opolo Wines

Program Note

MOMIX is a fixture among American dance companies, with a 45-year history of innovative approaches to spectacle and storytelling. A long overdue Soraya debut, MOMIX’s rendition of Alice is loosely based on Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice in Wonderland and blends illusion, acrobatics, magic, and whimsy. MOMIX sends audiences down the rabbit hole on a mind-bending adventure, as Alice encounters memorable characters such as the undulating Caterpillar, a lobster quadrille, frenzied White Rabbits, and a mad Queen of Hearts.

Gratefully,

Thor Steingraber

Executive and Artistic Director,

Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts

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Alice Soundtrack

“Des Chapeaux dans les Lapins,” by Odezenne, Alix Caillet, Jacques Cormary, and Mattia Lucchini, SDRM “Cracked Mirrors and Stopped Clocks,” “Womb Duvet,” by Origamibiro, Tom Hill, Andy Tytherleigh, and The Joy of Box, Two Thousand and Eleven Ribbon Music “Faster and Faster,” by Tony Kinsey, KMP LTD “Fortress of Doors,” “Fungiferous Flora,” “Skool Daze,” “Falling Down the Rabbit Hole,” by Chris Vrenna and Mark Blasquez, Almo/Pink Lava “Taal Se Taal,” by Alka Yagnik and Udit Narayan, A.R. Rahman and Anand Bakshi, Tips Industry Music Publishing “The Cheshire Cat,” by Danny Elfman, Wonderland Music Company “Restless,” by Sounds from the Ground, Nick Woolfson and Eliot Jones from the Waveform Release Brightwhitelight “The Lobster Quadrille,” by Franz Ferdinand, Alexander Huntley, Nick McCarthy, Paul Thompson, and Robert Hardy, Universal Polygram International “Mexicali, Jacquadi,” by Polo & Pan, Paul Armand-Delille and Alexandre Grynszpan, EOS “1977,” by Ana Tijoux, BMG “Don't Worry, We'll Be Watching You,” “Smoke and Mirrors,” by Gotye, Wouter De Backer, Songs of Kobalt Music “Prologue/Cherry Ripe,” by Richard Hartley, He Pro Tunes Inc. “The Sea,” by Joey Pecoraro, Rough Trade Songs “Divine Moments of Truth,” by Shpongle, Simon James Posford and Raja Ram, Twisted Music Ltd. “Requiem,” by House Made of Dawn, Arcane Creative Publishing “2 Songar (Two Songs) II Vogguvis (Lullaby),” by Jon Leifs, Iceland Music Information Center “Indifferent Universe,” “Liminalidad,” “Espesa,” by Lucrecia Dalt, RVNG Intl. “White Rabbit,” written by Grace Slick, published by Mole Music (BMI); all rights reserved (used by permission) “Perpetuum Mobile,” by Simon Jeffes, Daniel Myer, Barbara Thompson, and Dejan Samardzic, Editions Penguin Cafe Ltd.

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About the Company

MOMIX, a company of dancer-illusionists founded and directed by Moses Pendleton, has been presenting work of exceptional inventiveness and physical beauty for more than 40 years. From its base in Washington, Connecticut, the company has developed a devoted worldwide following. In addition to stage performances, MOMIX has also worked in film and television, as well as corporate advertising, with national commercials for Hanes and Target, and presentations for Mercedes-Benz, Fiat, and Pirelli. With performances on PBS’s “Dance in America” series, France’s Antenne 2, and Italian RAI television, the company’s repertory has been broadcast to 55 countries. The Rhombus Media film of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition with MOMIX and the Montreal Symphony was the winner of an International Emmy for Best Performing Arts Special. MOMIX was also featured in IMAGINE, one of the first IMAX 3D films released in IMAX theaters worldwide. MOMIX dancers Cynthia Quinn and Karl Baumann, under Pendleton’s direction, played the role of Bluey in the feature film F/X2; White Widow, co-choreographed by Pendleton and Quinn, was featured in Robert Altman’s movie The Company. With nothing more than light, shadow, fabric, props, and the human body, MOMIX continues to astonish and delight audiences on five continents.

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Moses Pendleton

Moses Pendleton (Founder and Artistic Director) has been one of America’s most innovative and widely performed choreographers and directors for over 40 years. A co-founder of the groundbreaking Pilobolus Dance Theater in 1971, he formed his own company, MOMIX, in 1980. Pendleton has also worked extensively in film, TV, and opera, and as a choreographer for ballet companies and special events. Pendleton was born and raised on a dairy farm in Northern Vermont. His earliest experiences as a showman came from exhibiting his family’s dairy cows at the Caledonia County Fair. Pendleton received his Bachelor of Arts in English literature from Dartmouth College in 1971. Pilobolus began touring and the group shot to fame in the 1970s, performing on Broadway under the sponsorship of Pierre Cardin, touring internationally, and appearing in PBS’s “Great Performances: Dance in America” series. By the end of the 1970s, Pendleton had begun to work outside of Pilobolus, performing in and serving as principal choreographer for the Paris Opera’s Intégrale Erik Satie in 1979 and choreographing the closing ceremony of the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics. The creation of MOMIX that same year 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. Pendleton has also been active as a performer and choreographer for other companies. He has staged Francis Picabia’s Dadaist ballet Relâche for the Joffrey Ballet, and Tutuguri, based on the writings of Artaud, for the Deutsch Opera Berlin. He created the role of the Fool for Yuri Lyubimov’s production of Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina at La Scala and choreographed Rameau’s Platée for the Spoleto Festival USA in 1987. Pendleton contributed choreography to Lina Wertmüller’s production of Carmen at the Munich State Opera in 1993. More recently, he has choreographed new works for the Ballet Arizona and the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. He teamed up with Daniel Ezralow and David Parsons to choreograph Aeros with the Romanian national gymnastics team. Pendleton’s film and television work includes the feature film F/X2 with Cynthia Quinn, Moses Pendleton Presents Moses Pendleton for ABC ARTS cable (winner of more than 10 international awards including a Cine Golden Eagle Award and the U.S. Film and Video Competition, now known as Sundance, Special Jury 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. Pendleton has made music videos with Prince, Julian Lennon, and Cathy Dennis, among others. An avid photographer, Pendleton has had works presented in Rome, Milan, Florence, Italy, and Aspen, Colorado. Images of his sunflower plantings at his home in northwestern Connecticut have been featured in numerous books and articles on gardening. Pendleton is the subject of the book Salto di Gravità by Elisabetta Sgarbi, published in Italy in 1999. His photographs accompany the 16 cantos of Phil Holland’s The Dance Must Follow (2015), which takes Pendleton’s own creative process as its subject. 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 1978. Pendleton is a recipient of a 2002 American Choreography Award for his contributions to film and television. In May 2010, he received an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts and delivered the keynote address to the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Pendleton choreographed the Dove of Peace, featuring Diana Vishneva, for the opening ceremony of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

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Cynthia Quinn

Cynthia Quinn (Associate Director), who grew up in Southern California, graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California, Riverside and continued there as an Associate in Dance for five years. In 1988, she received the university’s Outstanding Young Alumni Award. As a member of Pilobolus, Quinn performed on Broadway and throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, Israel, and Japan. She collaborated on the choreography of Day Two, Elegy for the Moment, Mirage, What Grows in Huygens Window, and Stabat Mater. Quinn began performing with MOMIX in 1983 and has since toured throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, South America, and Japan. She has appeared in numerous television programs and music videos and has assisted Moses Pendleton in the choreography of Pulcinella for the Ballet Nancy in France, Tutuguri for the Berlin Opera Ballet, Platée for the Spoleto Festival USA, Les Maries de la Tour Eiffel in New York, AccorDION for the Zurich-Volksbuhne Theatre, and Carmen for the Munich State Opera, as well as Opus Cactus for Ballet Arizona, and Noir Blanc for Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. Quinn has also appeared as a guest artist with the Ballet Theatre Francais de Nancy, the Berlin Opera Ballet, and the Munich State Opera, as well as international galas in Italy, France, and Japan. Quinn made her film debut as Bluey, a role she shared with Karl Baumann, in F/X2. She was a featured performer in the Emmy Award-winning Pictures at an Exhibition with the Montreal Symphony and has also appeared in an IMAX 3D film. Quinn is a board member of the Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory in Torrington, Connecticut, and on the advisory board of the Susan B. Anthony Project, also in Torrington. She was featured with RuPaul and k.d. Lang for M.A.C. Cosmetics’ “Fashion Cares” benefits in Toronto and Vancouver. Quinn is co-choreographer of White Widow, which is featured prominently in the Robert Altman film, The Company. Quinn was also featured in the film First Born, with Elisabeth Shue. Quinn co-choreographed Dove of Peace, featuring Diana Vishneva, for the opening ceremony of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. However, her most rewarding and challenging role is as mother to her daughter, Quinn Elisabeth.

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Jared Bogart

Jared Bogart (dancer) graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance from Jacksonville University and trained during the summers at Orlando Ballet School, ArchCore40, Florida Dance Masters, and Florida Dance Festival. At Jacksonville University, he worked with artists such as Jennifer Muller, Robert Moses, Jennifer Archibald, Ronen Koresh, and Stephanie Martinez. Bogart danced five seasons with Ballet Hispánico under artistic director Eduardo Vilaro, where he worked with renowned choreographers such as Ronald K. Brown, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. Bogart also performed and taught with PARA.MAR Dance Theatre under founder and director Martinez. He has also performed with Diavolo in Los Angeles under creative director Jacques Heim. Bogart most recently performed with Dua Lipa as a backup dancer at the 2024 Grammy Awards. He joined MOMIX in 2024.

Heather Conn

Originally from New York, Heather Conn (dancer) attended the Long Island High School for the Arts as a dance major and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. Additionally, she has trained with the Joffrey Ballet School, the Bolshoi Ballet, and the Boston Conservatory, among others. Conn has performed professionally across the United States and beyond, in contemporary dance, musical theater, film, and live production art. She has performed in such notable venues as Radio City Music Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Apollo Theater, Jacob’s Pillow, the Joyce, and the Folies Bergère in Paris. Conn has danced for Nickerson-Rossi Dance, Schoen Movement Company, and The Orsano Project as assistant to Phil Orsano. She was given a leading role in Busch Gardens Christmas Town production of Miracles. Conn performs for TEN31 Productions as a “living art” performer at events and for the live arts company Moving On. She is featured in Dance Across the USA, a photography book by Jonathan Givens, as a dancer representing the state of New York. Conn is a certified yoga teacher, a certified Animal Flow® instructor, and an essential oil specialist. She has a passion for healing arts and is a strong advocate for social justice, wildlife, and the Earth. Conn joined MOMIX in 2018.

Nathaniel Davis

Born in Toronto, Canada, Nathaniel Davis (dancer) started training at the age of 17 and attended the New World School of the Arts college, graduating cum laude in 2015 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance. He has worked with the Peter London Global Dance Company in Miami, Florida, and Artichoke Dance Company in Brooklyn, New York. Davis has performed works by Robert Battle, Daniel Ulbricht, George Balanchine, José Limón, Kyle Abraham, Bill T. Jones, and Darshan Bhuller. Davis joined MOMIX in 2017.

Madeline Dwyer

Madeline Dwyer (dancer) is a New York City-based dancer and artist. She began training at Stowe Dance Academy in Vermont and later at the Boston Ballet preprofessional program under Margaret Tracey. Dwyer has studied at the School of American Ballet, the Martha Graham School, and GALLIM. A summa cum laude graduate of the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program in New York, she performed original works there by Brice Mousset, Darshan Bhuller, Joanna Kotze, Natalie Lomonte, and Jacqulyn Buglisi. Dwyer has also performed works by Young Soon Kim, Alec Knight, and Jesse Obremski and has danced at the Boston Opera House in Mikko Nissinen’s The Nutcracker. She is the resident choreographer at Hudson River Opera and a company dancer with White Wave Dance. Dwyer joined MOMIX in 2024.

Derek Elliott Jr.

Derek Elliott Jr. (dancer) is a performing artist residing in Pennsylvania. He received his Bachelor of Arts in dance and theatre with a concentration in musical theatre performance from DeSales University. Elliott has been performing in musicals since the age of 13. While in college, he had the privilege of training with dance artists Trinette Singleton, Timothy Cowart, Julia A. Mayo, Derek Crescenti, Steven Casey, and Angela Sigley Grossman. Elliott has performed excerpts from Paul Taylor’s Cloven Kingdom restaged by Annmaria Mazzini, and A Chorus Line, directed, choreographed, and restaged by Luis Villabon as an offstage cover/swing at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. In addition to dancing, acting, and singing, Elliott holds a black belt in traditional karate, Jeet Kune Do, and Lee Jun Fan Gung Fu. He also holds an International Parkour Coaching Certification and has additional parkour professional development training in strength training for movement. Elliott joined MOMIX in 2022.

Seah Hagan

Born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida, Seah Hagan (Dance Captain) is a third-generation dancer. She began her training at the Southern Academy of Ballet Arts under the tutelage of Natalia Botha and Charles Hagan. As an Advanced Company member of the Pas de Vie Ballet, Hagan performed many classical and contemporary soloist and principal roles. In addition to ballet and modern training, she is also an accomplished ballroom dancer, having competed in multiple world championships. At age 16, Hagan graduated summa cum laude from the Florida State University Schools. Before MOMIX, she worked for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. On her 18th birthday, Hagan began her professional dance career with MOMIX. She has since toured across the United States, Canada, Europe, South America, and Asia, performing solos in three original shows, VIVA MOMIX, Opus Cactus, and Alice. As Dance Captain, Hagan was heavily involved in the creation of Alice. She joined MOMIX in 2017.

Oksana Horban

Originally from Kyiv, Ukraine, Oksana Horban (dancer) studied pantomime at the Academy of Circus and Variety Arts, where she graduated with honors. She worked with Bingo Circus-Theatre and artist Mykola Baranov. In 2017, Horban moved to California to pursue dance and became part of the NCA cheerleading team at Palomar College. She graduated from Montclair State University in New Jersey in 2022 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance. Horban has performed works by Alexander Anderson, Ohad Naharin, Paul Taylor, Bradley Shelver, Larry Keigwin, Maxine Steinman, Fredrick Earl Mosley, and Romeo Castellucci. Horban has performed with Streb Extreme Action Company in Brooklyn, New York, and Yara Arts Group at La MaMa Theatre in New York, and has presented her own choreography at the Koresh Artist Showcase. She joined MOMIX in 2023.

Adam Ross

Adam Ross (Dancer) began training at a young age in Chesapeake, Virginia. He went on to compete in regional and national dance competitions throughout the East Coast. As a teen, Ross attended the Governor’s School for the Arts in Norfolk, Virginia, where he focused on ballet and modern technique. In 2023, he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in contemporary dance from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where he performed works from Paul Taylor, Erick Hawkins, Martha Graham, Murray Louis, and Gabrielle Lamb, as well as multiple creations by faculty, students, and alumni from the Conservatory. Dance intensives and workshops include Point Park University, Milwaukee Ballet, RUBBERBAND, and CoMotion. Ross joined MOMIX in 2022.

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Phoebe Katzin

After graduating from Endicott College’s fashion design program, Phoebe Katzin (Costume Designer) worked for Kitty Daly, dressmaking and building dance costumes. For several years, Katzin lived in New York making costumes for Kitty Leech, Greg Barnes, and Allison Conner, among others. Katzin has been instrumental in designing and constructing costumes for MOMIX and Pilobolus for more than 20 years.

Michael Korsch

Michael Korsch (Lighting Designer) is a lighting and scenic designer based in Philadelphia. He has worked with numerous directors and choreographers, creating visual designs for dance and theater throughout North and South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. Korsch has been the resident lighting/scenic designer and technical director for Complexions Contemporary Ballet since 1998, and the resident lighting designer for Ballet Arizona since 2001. In addition, he has created original designs for companies including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, BalletMet, BalletX, Carolina Ballet, Cleveland Play House, DanceBrazil, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Disney Creative Entertainment, English National Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, North Carolina Dance Theatre, Oakland Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Sacramento Ballet, Staatsballett Berlin, and Washington Ballet. Korsch has worked with MOMIX on several shows.

Woodrow F. Dick III

Woodrow F. Dick III (Production Manager and Lighting Supervisor) is MOMIX’s go-to guy for anything and everything related to production. He has worked on numerous productions, both big and small. Dick joined MOMIX in 2005.

Victoria Mazzarelli

Following an impressive and extensive professional international ballet career, Victoria Mazzarelli (Ballet Mistress) returned to her roots at the Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory in Torrington, Connecticut, where she serves as Artistic Director, training the next generation of dancers.

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Alice Tour Staff

Conceived and Directed by Moses Pendleton Associate Director | Cynthia Quinn Assisted by Anthony Bocconi, Beau Campbell, Jennifer Chicheportiche, Samantha Chiesa, Heather Conn, Gregory De Armond, Jonathan Eden, Matt Giordano, Seah Hagan, Hannah Klinkman, Sean Langford, Heather Magee, Sarah Nachbauer, Jade Primicias, Rebecca Rasmussen, Colton Wall, and Jason Williams Production Manager & Lighting Supervisor | Woodrow F. Dick III Production Stage Manager/FOH Engineer | Colin Neukirch Production Electrician | Alexa Denney Lead Carpenter/Rigger | Austin Downs Lighting Design | Michael Korsch Music Collage | Moses Pendleton Music Editing | Andrew Hanson Video Design | Woodrow F. Dick III Spider Puppet Design | Michael Curry Costume Design | Phoebe Katzin Costume Construction | Phoebe Katzin, Beryl Taylor Ballet Mistress | Victoria Mazzarelli Research Consultant | Philip Holland Communications Manager | Quinn Pendleton Company Manager | Paula Budetti Burns This production of Alice has been funded, in part, by a contribution from Next Move Dance.

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Interview With Moses Pendleton

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The Soraya

The Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya/Producer) is an award-winning, state-of-the-art 1,700-seat theater that opened in 2011 as the Valley Performing Arts Center. Through a transformative gift by Younes and Soraya Nazarian, the venue was renamed The Soraya in 2017. The Soraya is located on the campus of California State University, Northridge, the intellectual and cultural heart of the San Fernando Valley.

Executive and Artistic Director Thor Steingraber, in his 12th year leading the organization, sums up what makes The Soraya a central piece of Los Angeles arts and culture. “At The Soraya, we hold a high standard of excellence for every performance from a vast array of artistic disciplines, and we hold steadfast to our commitment to the value and impact of the performing arts in community-building, for the Valley’s 1.8 million residents and beyond.”

The Soraya’s 2025–26 Season is a journey through the expansive sounds of orchestras, the freestyle vibes of jazz, the innovations of dance luminaries, and a vast array of global voices. The Soraya continues its vigorous commitment to excelling, innovating, and amplifying access for Valley residents, students, and arts lovers across Southern California.

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