Musiqa and NobleMotion Dance to Present FREE REIN Collaboration

Musiqa and NobleMotion Dance, known for their innovative collaborations, will present Free Rein - a fusion of music, dance, multimedia design, and cutting-edge neuro-engineering.

Performances run January 23-25, 2026, at the MATCH. The evening features music by Anthony Brandt, Pierre Jalbert, Badie Khaleghian, and Max Vinetz; choreography by Andy and Dionne Noble; and neuroscience research by the University of Georgia's Creativity and Imagination Lab, directed by Anna Abraham, and the University of Houston's Nordin Lab, directed by Andrew Nordin.
 
FREE REIN (World Premiere)

Music: Anthony Brandt

Choreography: Andy & Dionne Noble 

Multimedia and Data Visualization: Badie Khaleghian

Neuroscience: Anna Abraham, Andrew Nordin

What happens inside the mind of an artist at the moment of creation? How does inspiration move between music, dance, visual art, and audience - live and in real time? With Free Rein, Musiqa and NobleMotion Dance invite Houstonians to witness creativity as it unfolds, making the invisible process of artistic invention visible, audible, and deeply human.

Building on the acclaimed Meeting of Minds collaboration - which earned Chamber Music America's 2025 Interdisciplinary Collaboration of the Year Award - the companies reunite to blur the boundaries between art and science. In the titular work, musicians and dancers shift between rehearsed and spontaneous performance, showcasing both individual and collective creativity.

Each segment reveals a different facet of artistic inspiration, while scientists capture and project neural data for the audience to experience in real time. Embedded scientific research using mobile brain-body imaging and cutting-edge AI displays performers' levels of creativity as the work unfolds.
 

LIGHT, LINE, SHADOW (2018)

Music: Pierre Jalbert

Artwork: Edward Hopper, Road and Trees

A three-movement work inspired by Edward Hopper's Road and Trees, each movement reflects a facet of the painting: the dynamic motion of landscape seen from a car (Landscape in Motion), the dense forest and layered brushwork (Brush Strokes), and the painting's sense of solitude and openness (Open Road).
 

PHANTOM REACH (Excerpt, 2025)

Choreography: Andy & Dionne Noble

Music and Multimedia: Badie Khaleghian

Phantom Reach steps inside the fractured psyche of a man drifting through a fugue state, where towering projections of his hands expose the emotional undercurrents he struggles to suppress. In this excerpt from the larger work, performed by Lindsey McGill and Jacob Regan, the man exists on one side of a wall and the woman on the other - neither able to break through, she fighting not to fade from his memory. With evocative multimedia design and an original composition by Badie Khaleghian, Phantom Reach immerses audiences in a hauntingly beautiful mindscape.
 

LET IT RING (2025)

Music: Max Vinetz

Choreography: Andy & Dionne Noble

Composed by multi-award-winning composer Max Vinetz, Let It Ring is a bold contemporary work featuring uplifting, virtuosic music and movement. The piece includes an ensemble of eleven guest dancers from Sam Houston State University's Department of Dance.
 

PERFORMERS & CREATIVE TEAM

Musicians: Nanki Chugh (violin), Chelsea de Souza (piano), Caio Alvez Diniz (cello), Garrett Hudson (flute), Bensen Kwan (percussion), Austin Lewellen (bass), Maiko Sasaki (clarinet), Molly Turner (conductor)

Dancers: Jacob Regan, Lauren Serrano, Deontay Gray, Tyler Orcutt, Lindsey McGill, Kalli Loudan, Dillon Bell, and guest dancers from Sam Houston State University

Music and Multimedia: Badie Khaleghian