Momentum was founded by Delma Iles in 1982. She is well known through out the state of Florida, and has been awarded many different merits. She's an M.F.A. recipient from New York University, in Dance. She came to Florida aspiring to change, or add to the growing world of arts here in Miami. Since then she has choreographed around 40 different works, all of which for some reason have been given some positive acclaim. Perhaps because I have not seen these other pieces, I am not so easily persuaded that this show was just a fluke. That this company may in fact be talented and all the merits were well deserved, and not awarded simply for merit's sake.
On December 3, Momentum performed a few different pieces from their own repertoire and a fairly new, bold piece that was exciting to watch. These together were presented as "Dances for the Holiday Spirit." Unfortunatly, the piece I enjoyed most was choreographed by another artist, Irmah DelValle, not Delma Iles. Briefly, it is to be said that though Irmah DelValle is the Artistic Assistant, it may someday (hopefully sooner than later) be her bold ideas that sky-rocket this company to a new level in the dance community.
The piece choreographed by Irmah DelValle was titled "An Anguished Cry." (2000) A very exciting piece that used only women, either due to a lack of men, or more over I feel to make a bold statement. Their costumes were reminiscent of the later 80's. With hot pink and green shirts that blended splendidly into the shadowy cast background and lighting schemes. The movement was more modern with little to no use of any contemporary ballet technique. It was perhaps this contrast that added something more spectacular to its presentation. The women whom performed this gave themselves whole-heartedly to the choreography, something that was not done in any of the other pieces. There were many moments where the audience was captivated, boldly sitting on the edge of their seats awaiting the next delicious roll through their undulating backs; or more often gasping at the daring lifts -- spectacles so rarely seen performed by only women.