The following is a long video. You might want to watch the whole thing, or only a portion. But either way you’ll get an introduction to a gifted and exceedingly quirky individual: dancer Moses Pendleton, New Englander, scion of the Pendleton woolen company, and founding member of the acclaimed and ground-breaking modern dance troupes Pilobolus and Momix (he’s still the artistic director of the latter).

I enjoyed the following documentary about Pendleton when I saw it on television in 1982, and tried to record it on an old and scratchy Beta videorecorder (yes, Beta). That tape is all but irretrievable and unwatchable, so imagine my delight when I round it online recently.

Be patient; I think this video will reward you if you watch it. Pendleton is that rarity, a dancer who is intentionally and successfully comic, and yet also at times quite reflective. His life has not been altogether easy, as you will see, and he’s been blessed (or cursed) with a unique sensibility that I would imagine can at times be trying, both to himself and those who might have the guts to live with him.

So here he is, the man from Momix, Moses Pendleton, about thirty years ago:

MOSES PENDLETON PRESENTS MOSES PENDLETON from J. Mitchell Johnson on Vimeo.