A sensual, botanical love affair

Sensual, mysterious and erotic is how the creator of MOMIX Botanica describes his upcoming show — ideal, it seems, to get you in the mood for Valentine’s Night. 

This visual feast portraying the beauty and mystery of the natural world through dance theatre, he says, is guaranteed to turn you on. 

Speaking to the Bermuda Sun ahead of the Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts show, Moses Pendleton said: “Overall it is a natural aphrodisiac — it is very energetic. There are powerful dancers doing beautiful mysterious things. It is full of positivism. Really, what an aphrodisiac should do, is make you feel you energised. If you walk away with a little lightness in your step or if you if it gives you a little vibration, then take it and do whatever you want with it.”

The show uses magnificent costume, bizarre materials and intense lighting and projections to imitate the beauty of plant, animal and mineral. 

“Part of the aesthetic is to take costumes and props and special lighting to create images and connect the human to the non-human which seems to be my calling,” he said. “I wanted to give the audience a feeling of taking a walk down our magical, botanical garden through dance theatre. 

“We use a loose format of the four seasons beginning in the dead of winter and moving though buds of spring and summer storms and fall harvest and back to repeat the cycle. We try to create a body of imagery the way a sculptor of painter might work.”

Pendleton was inspired to create this exhilarating show, which has travelled the world, by his passion for the outdoors.

“I have been known to be an ‘avant gardener’ — I was born and raised on a farm in Connecticut and have always been inspired by the natural world. 

“I get energised by this and I thought if I was going to spend 90 per cent of my time growing prize-winning sunflowers I ought to find a way to make a living with that passion. 

“Through dance theatre I could bring my garden to the audience. 

“There are some wonderful props we work with by Michael Curry who did the Lion King.”

There are 23 musical sections to the show with everything from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons to the upbeat sounds of Peter Gabrial and the haunting voice of Lisa Gerrard. Among the more sensual sections of the show include a dance by a woman on a sloping mirror.

“One woman does this erotic solo on a mirror — she is like an echo of narcissus and then she transformed in the glass. 

‘It is quite exciting for people.”

•MOMIX Botanica is at Ruth Seaton James tomorrow, Friday and Saturday at 8pm. The majority of remaining tickets are for Valentine’s night and are priced at $65 for adults and $25 for students. See www.bdatix.bm