“If it gives you joy then you don’t have to explain it” David Poe
If it gives you joy – if I want to describe Pilobolus I could almost stop there, because an evening with Pilobolus is to experience joy. I could almost stop there, because you really have to see them in action to understand the magic of Pilobolus. The dance company will happily be returning once more to Israel with Shadowland, an evening length work created in collaboration with Steven Banks (SpongeBob SquarePants) and David Poe who wrote the score.
Constructing fantastic visions onstage with their bodies, their performances have the fascination of a conjuror’s trick, yet even more amazing because it is all real. The physical abilities of the dancers are astounding, they make the impossible seem effortless. The imagery of Pilobolus creates a surreal environment in which each magical moment is to be savored.
The founding members of Pilobolus – Robby Barnett, Lee Harris, Moses Pendleton and Jonathan Wolken first came together in a dance class taught by Alison Chase at Dartmouth College in 1971. Although the group has seen some changes – Chase joined from 1973 – 2006, Pendleton left to form Momix, Michael Tracy replaced Harris in 1974 – the core group of artistic directors has remained together for a remarkably long time, with Wolken’s death in June 2010 a sad loss to the company. It was Wolken who gave the Pilobolus its unusual name, from a fungus he encountered in his work in a biophysics laboratory. Ever popular with audiences, Pilobolus received the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award in 2000, and has been the subject of a feature profile on CBS’ 60 Minutes.
Pilobolus began the International Collaborators Project (ICP) in 2007, , inviting visiting artists to create new works with the company. The first collaborators were the Israeli choreographers Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak, and together they created Rushes. Commenting on the experience of working with the company, Inbal Pinto said, “It’s a live organism, the dancers are an active part of the creation, and they are the life of the place. You can throw them a ball, paper, nothing – and they go with it. They come to life through being together.”
Pilobolus has collaborated with artists in diverse fields: writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak, comic artist Art Speigelman, MIT Distributed Robotics Laboratory directed by Professor Daniela Rus, Belgian-Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and many more.
Pilobolus will be performing Shadowland at the Israeli Opera from December 25 – 27, 2013. Tickets may be ordered online, or call: 03-6927777
Shadowland
Created by Steven Banks, Robby Barnett, Renee Jaworski, Matt Kent, Itamar Kubovy, Michael Tracy; Music: David Poe; Lighting Designer: Neil Peter Jamplois; Set Designer: Neil Patel; Costume Designer: Liz Prince.
Performances: Wednesday, December 25th at 20:00; Thursday, December 26th at 20:00; Friday, December 27th at 13:00; Saturday, December 28th at 16:30 & 21:00.
