MOMENTA is the resident performing arts company of The Academy of Movement and Music in Oak Park. MOMENTA is in reality two companies. The Senior Company is a small group of seasoned professionals augmented as needed by highly skilled advanced students, and the Junior Company is a large group of talented young dancers who are developing their performing skills. Both the Senior Company and Junior Company are physically integrated. The Senior Company's repertory includes historical works by the legends of American Modern Dance: Loie Fuller, Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis, Doris Humphrey, Martha Graham and Charles Weidman; and by great classical choreographers like August Bournonville, Mikhail Fokine, Jules Perrot and Marius Petipa. MOMENTA also has a commitment to contemporary choreography and has commissioned many Chicago area choreographers and musicians for original works:
Homer Bryant, Frank Chaves, Ron DeJesus, Brian Enos, Randy Duncan, Anita Fillmore, Sarah Cullen Fuller, Winifred Haun, Sandra Kaufmann, Ginger Lane, Jon Lehrer, Michelle Manzanales, Cora D. Mitchell, James Morrow, Sarah Najera, Jason Ohlberg, Gina Sigismondi, Sarita Smith Childs, Cuitlahuac Suarez, Tom Trimble and Raphaelle Ziemba. Since 2003, MOMENTA expanded its repertory to include physically integrated works for dancers with disabilities and participated in Bodies of Work, the first Chicago Festival for Disability Arts and Culture. MOMENTA has been featured three times on Channel 11's (WTTW) Artbeat, and was one of the companies featured in the HMS special on Chicago Dance also aired on WTTW. MOMENTA's work with dancers with disabilities was featured in a special report by Jim Mullen on WBBM, Channel 2.
