Choreographer, Dancer Tapped To Receive Brettell Award in the Arts

In Moses Pendleton’s world, brightly colored tutus transform dancers into marigolds. Strategically placed lights switch them into abstract Holstein cows. And sunflowers serve as endless muses.

With visual creations spanning film, television, opera and ballet, Pendleton, founder and artistic director of the dance theater company MOMIX, has been selected to receive The University of Texas at Dallas’ 2025 Richard Brettell Award in the Arts. The biennial award is the highest honor bestowed to artists by the University.

Prospective awardees are nominated by the Brettell Award advisory committee, composed of distinguished individuals from the Dallas area’s arts and performance community and chaired by Dr. Nils Roemer, dean of the Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology at UT Dallas. Pendleton, a Connecticut choreographer and dancer known for combining dance, acrobatics and multimedia elements into his art, was unanimously selected by the committee to receive the award and a $150,000 prize this fall during a nearly weeklong residency at UT Dallas.

“My aesthetic is really that connection to the natural world — the plant and animal and mineral,” said Pendleton, who also co-founded the award-winning Pilobolus dance company. “I take a very strong approach to allowing myself to be influenced and inspired by nature.”

The Brettell Award was established in 2016 with a gift from Margaret McDermott to recognize artists for their lifetime accomplishments in visual arts, music, literature, performance or architecture/design. McDermott was a visionary philanthropist who championed the arts, education and research in the Dallas area and beyond, and helped transform UT Dallas through her leadership and support. The award was named after Dr. Richard R. Brettell, the founding director of UT Dallas’ Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History, and one of the world’s foremost authorities on impressionism and French painting from 1830 to 1930. Brettell was instrumental in developing the vision for elevating the arts at UT Dallas.

“The idea is to bring exceptional individuals who are inspiring to our students and wider communities,” said Roemer, who also is the Arts, Humanities, and Technology Distinguished University Chair. “With the Brettell, Pendleton ticks off all the boxes.”

Roemer highlighted Pendleton’s accomplishments as a photographer, choreographer and entrepreneur who started his own dance companies.

“He’s a multitalented, transdisciplinary artist. We really lucked out with him. We can plug him into so many student communities. We’re excited about the ability to bring him to campus,” said Roemer, who is also the director of the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies and the Stan and Barbara Rabin Distinguished Professor in Holocaust Studies.

“He’s a multitalented, transdisciplinary artist. We really lucked out with him. We can plug him into so many student communities. We’re excited about the ability to bring him to campus.”

Dr. Nils Roemer, dean of the Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology

During Pendleton’s residency at UTD, a MOMIX performance will highlight some of the company’s most iconic works from its illustrious repertoire. Combining illusion, beauty, magic, fun and inventiveness, MOMIX is recognized internationally for presenting works of innovation and physical artistry.

“It’s a great honor. I’m always happy to meet new people,” Pendleton said. “Fresh, young, intelligent, curious people spark my imagination.”

Pendleton’s artistic vision has appeared on TV, commercials, film and theater. With performances on PBS’ “Great Performances: Dance in America” series and public television stations in France and Italy, MOMIX company’s productions have been broadcast in 55 countries and appeared in commercials for Target and Hanes.

The 1991 Rhombus Media film of composer Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” featuring Pendleton and MOMIX, won an International Emmy for Best Performing Arts Special. MOMIX also was featured in “Imagine,” one of the first 3D IMAX films released in theaters worldwide. Other film credits include the 1991 thriller “F/X 2: The Deadly Art of Illusion,” in which two MOMIX dancers played Bluey, a mechanical clown, and the 2003 Robert Altman movie “The Company,” which featured the dance “White Widow,” choreographed by Pendleton and his wife, Cynthia Quinn.

More recently, the MOMIX productions “Alice,” “Alchemia,” “Botanica” and “Viva Momix” have received critical acclaim. A new revival of “Botanica” is scheduled to be performed at the Winspear Opera House in Dallas on June 6, 2026.

Pendleton’s art reflects his upbringing as a farmer’s son and former skier. He was born and raised on a Vermont dairy farm and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English literature in 1971 from Dartmouth College, where he discovered dance. He helped found his first dance company, Pilobolus, after he and two fellow students choreographed a dance named for the fungus. In 1980, he created a solo for the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, and started MOMIX, named 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.”

His talents extend to photography, and Pendleton is excited for his exhibition at UTD.

“I’m quite an avid photographer,” he said. “What drew me to photography is how it sharpens the eye — it helps make visible what’s often invisible to others. That way of seeing has been essential to my work as a choreographer. I’m constantly inspired by forms in nature — its magic never ceases to amaze me. It’s a lifelong pursuit. Nature is my muse. It reveals things I didn’t know I was looking for — sometimes even things about myself. I use nature to show what a madman I probably am,” he added with a grin. “It’s well beyond therapy for me.”

In the fall, Pendleton will approach his residency at UTD much like he creates art.

“I think it’s important to stay open to surprises,” he said. “You can’t be too sure that what you’ve planned will turn out as expected. I try to take a Zen-like approach — embracing the accidents, the unpredictability and the unexpected moments that often can lead to something better.”