I've covered a lot concerning Pilobolus, and I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have. I'd like to end with just a little more information.
Pilobolus THEN.
Pilobolus NOW.
This first video is a repertory video of Pilobolus, highlighting the best of the best they currently have to offer. Some of the material may look familiar, since I've talked about some of it before in my posts. Pilobolus adds new material to their repertory every year, and keeps old choreography in as well. Much like the pictures above, they stay true to their roots and keep it alive.
I'm really excited about this second video. This video is from Pilobolus's first collaboration in 1999, with author Maurice Sendak (best known for Where The Wild Things Are). The dancers are working with a non-dancer, yet are still able to work with him and create a unified vision. The number they created is entitled "A Selection" and is a reflection on the Holocaust. The video not only talks about their work at that time, but it also contains clips of early Pilobolus work. I like this video because it shows how Pilobolus dancers interact with one another during rehearsal and how they work with outside collaborators to create a cohesive story.
For more information on Pilobolus and their work with collaborators, check out this Time Out Chicago interview with founding member Robby Barnett.
Finally, I'd like to talk about MOMIX, a group formed by Pilobolus founding member Moses Pendleton in 1981 when he decided to break away from his original company a decade after its formation. MOMIX was originally the title of a dance Pendleton created for Pilobolus before the split. MOMIX stays true to many of the Pilobolus stylings, yet has a distinct flare for spectacle. It can be argued that while Pilobolus focuses on what the body can do in terms of spectacle, MOMIX focuses on more prop-based spectacle.
This is a video of MOMIX's Botanica, and as you can see, the company relies on costumes and props to create all the spectacle. For more information on MOMIX, visit their website.
A lot was happening in 1971 when Pilobolus was formed at Dartmouth College. What sort of things were happening, you ask?
In the science world, the microprocessor was created (that's the foundation of all computers!). NASA sent the Mariner 9 became the first spacecraft to orbit Mars in November. The Soviet Union sent two spacecrafts a month later. Floppy disks were created. CAT scanning was introduced.
In the media world, cigarette ads were officially banned on TV. School House Rock aired. PBS began Masterpiece Theater. Fiddler on the Roof, Dirty Harry, and A Clockwork Orange were released in theaters. The #1 song in America was "Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night.
In America, Charles Manson and his followers were convicted of the seven murders they committed. The voting age was lowered to age eighteen. The Attica State Prision in Buffalo, NY had a mass 4-day riot in which 28 inmates and 9 guards were killed. The Native Americans were forced out of Alcatraz. The US and South Vietnam invaded Laos. Captain Samuel Lee Gravely, Jr. became the first African American Rear Admiral in the US Navy. Greenpeace launched. Southwest Airlines and Amtrak began. The Magic Kingdom opened in Florida.
In the world, Bangladesh becomes a country. The United Arab Emirates was formed. Poland held strikes to overthrow the president. The Vietnam War was still continuing. Qatar gains its independence from the UK.
A lot of reform and change was occurring in 1971, and Pilobolus was helping to change the dance world. Pilobolus followed trends in science and technology, all while being influenced by nature. Pilobolus is also exploring non-traditional relationships in partnering. Pilobolus began as a duo, featuring Jonathan Wolken and Moses Pendleton. Robby Barnett and Michael Tracy joined in the following year. Pilobolus essentially jump-started with four male members, so the partnering was between two males. It wasn't until 1973 that the first two female members, Alison Becker Chase and Martha Clarke, joined. There was no concern for gender roles and the group took pride in their collective identity and views. By 1978, Pilobolus had appeared on Broadway, been featured in Time magazine, and appeared on the PBS series Dance in America.
This is a photo of the founding members of Pilobolus: Jonathan Wolken, Moses Pendleton, Robby Barnett, Michael Tracy, Alison Becker Chase, and Martha Clarke.
Pilobolus is a highly physical group with quite the reputation when it comes to theatrics. While their numbers seem organic, every move is precise to avoid injury and to create the intended formation, shadow, or structure for other dancers. I mean, just look at THIS, and THIS!
AND THIS!
The Pilobolus Institute provides classes, workshops, and residencies. There are in-school workshops, after-school programs, community workshops, and workshops held at universities around the world.
This is a video of a workshop at the Jerusalem School of Music and Dance in Israel in 2010. The workshop was held by 3 company members for a 90-minute session with students. You might spot a familiar face!
This is a video of a workshop at UNL from last year.
Pilobolus has posted the dates of their adult dance workshops for Summer 2013. If you are interested in potentially working with Pilobolus check out their page HERE! There are 3 different sessions this summer throughout the month of July.
Are you interested in performing with Pilobolus and are wondering what the auditions for a group like this might look like? Check out this video!
As you can see, they do partner work, combinations of same sex and opposite sex partnering as well as combinations of auditionee partnering and company member partnering. They also look for acrobatic technique and what appears to be structured improvisation.
Not only does Pilobolus perform, they inspire others to think and create. To see the Pilobolus Vote Project, click HERE! To see the art they inspired through their choreography, click THIS! Also, Pilobolus has made several appearances on Sesame Street, helping teach numbers, shapes, and letters to children across the nation.
Pilobolus is on of the reasons I started taking modern dance classes. Before seeing them perform one fall when I was about 10 years old, I had only ever taken ballet classes. Modern was something I did not understand or think was for me, so I stayed away from it entirely. My dance studio went to see Pilobolus as a group and I was enthralled. The company was strong, interesting, humorous, and theatrical. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. The performance was weird, spectacular, and awe inspiring. I even bought one of their t-shirts after the performance, a true sign that I thoroughly enjoyed what I had seen. The next day, I was enrolled in modern class. I have wanted to see them again since then, but have yet to have the chance. In fact, Pilobolus has been hidden in the back of my mind since then until doing this project. Needless to say, I have fallen back in love through my research.
If you are like me, and want to see them perform live (an experience I highly recommend), here is their 2013 tour schedule.
I have gathered two reviews from NYTimes covering the Pilobolus Dance Theatre performances in the Joyce Theater in 2011 and 2012. Both reviews contain positive remarks as well as negative. It seems, however, that there are more negative remarks. Please note that Pilobolus performs that the Joyce Theater for four-weeks annually.
The 2011 review discusses the opening performance of Pilobolus's four-week run at the Joyce Theater. While the critic Claudia La Rocco was impressed by the collaborative aspects of the company, she was impressed by little else. With comments such as "there is something strangely deadening about the current Pilobolus experience," it was clear that Rocco was not pleased. Rocco continued,
"It's great that Pilobolus is interested in various styles of working. But the troupe's artistic staff has such a particular aesthetic and the performers such a limited range of expression and physicality (think athletes, not dancers, though Jun Kuribayashi is a lyrical exception) that these experiments don't go very far. Worse, where they do go is awkward."
This is a photo from a 2011 performance of "Korokoro" at the Joyce Theater.
Rocco continued with a less-than-glowing review of "Korokoro," yet seemed to enjoy "All Is Not Lost," a dance in collaboration with music group OK Go. The dancers performed on top of a table-like structure made of plexiglass, and the action was simultaneously being video-recorded and projected on a screen. Finally, Rocco approved of the last piece in the performance; an original work from 1975 by founding member Martha Clarke. However, this was a back-handed complement stating,
"...but not all of the oldies are goodies: Moses Pendleton's "Day Two" (1980) is dance as soft-porn. Equal parts embarrassing and icky, it features thong costumes, ritualistic cavorting and even a pair of poles. There's not much to say, beyond 'ew.'"
This is a prime example of the idea many have that Pilobolus is riddled with sexuality and pornographic material. Without seeing the performance in question, it can be said to be a misinterpretation. It is clear, however, that Rocco is uncomfortable with some aspects of Pilobolus and seems to not like anything non-commercial.
Here is the music video for OK Go's "All Is Not Lost" featuring Pilobolus:
This is how they recreated "All Is Not Lost" onstage for their performances.
The 2012 review, again, discusses this year's four-week run at the Joyce Theater for Pilobolus. This time, Brian Seibert was the critic for the opening. Seibert also comments on the collaborative nature of Pilobolus stating, "many of these [collaborators] have strong artistic voices, but the fungus inevitably takes over, digesting new ideas into Pilobolese."
This is a photo from a 2012 performance of "Automaton" at the Joyce Theater.
For the first number entitiled "Automaton," Seibert, like Rocco, seemed to be focused on the implication of sexual material for this robot-inspired dance. Seibert says,
"'Automaton,' made with the eclectic Flemish-Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, asks dancers accustomed to nature imagery to turn mechanical. Wearing white gloves, as mimes do, they move like robots--conventionally, though a Pilobolus-style stacking of bodies allows for Transformers-like assemblies...Perhaps there's a message about modernity in 'Automaton,' or about Pilobolus and the collaborative process, but it doesn't quite come across here."
Here is a behind the scenes video of "Automaton":
Moving on, the next piece was another collaboration with OK Go, creating an adaptation of the Trish Sie music video for the song "Skyscrapers." Seibert labels this as "ingenious and fun" but that Pilobolus dancers were "beginners at tango, deficient in finesse."
Here is the behind the scenes video of "Skyscrapers":
Finally, Pilobolus closes again with repertory and this time, the critic approves. Seibert ends the review with a comment on the set changes:
"Following another recent pattern, the set changes are long and sluggish, but at least now there are films to watch in the meantime, as beautiful as Dylan Winter's footage of starlings and as juvenile and enjoyable as Dumt & Farligt's slow-motion demolition of domestic items. Beautiful, juvenile: that's Pilobolus for you."
It seems obvious that the NYTimes likes parts of Pilobolus and dislikes the rest, yet the opinion seems consistent: what is liked, is thought to be ingenious.
Pilobolus, in addition to it's work with shape and light, also explores natural and scientific concepts.
Nature
Even the name Pilobolus is actually the scientific genus name for a type of fungus, pictured here! (Now you know the reasoning behind the name of my blog, kdobsfungi).
Below are some examples of Pilobolus and its exploration of nature. Notice the use of the body in all of the photos and notice the way technology is used in the third photo. To view more photos of Pilobolus in nature, click HERE!
This is a promotional photo for Pilobolus Dance Theatre's performance in Cleveland, OH in May 2010. Notice this is an example of Pilobolus's site-specific work in nature, mimicking natural features like rocks in a riverbed.
This photo is from another site-specific performance by Pilobolus in canyon in Israel. The dancers' position mirrors the layers of rock that make up the canyon. In addition, the dancers' skin tones are also similar to the color of rock in the area, creating an interesting composition in nature.
This is a photo from a Pilobolus rehearsal, in which images of nature are projected across the bodies of the dancers. In this moment, an image of a zoomed-in leaf is displayed. This creates an interesting relationship between nature and technology in the arts.
In February 2005, Pilobolus's "Symbiosis" was featured on TED. This dance is composed of two dancers who spend the majority of the dance intertwined or connected in some way, reacting similarly to a symbiotic relationship between two species. The movement seen in this performance is fluid, natural, and organic. The costumes are simple; showing the human body, yet coloring it in a way to infer a non-human aesthetic.
The third movement of this video is absolutely stunning. The strength of these two dancers throughout the piece is something to be envied. The dance is about 12 minutes, but you will want to see every second!
Symbiosis, by definition is the close, long-term relationship between two or more biologically different species. An example that most are familiar with is the symbiotic relationship between clown fish and sea anemone. There are three main types of symbiosis: mutualistic, commensalistic, and parasitic. Still confused about symbiosis? Click here for a helpful rap about it. This dance, depending on the perspective taken, can relate to all three forms of symbiosis. There is a clear close relationship between the two bodies that is seen through the way they connect and share weight. Both dancers are supporting one another, yet at times, one is getting more support than the other. Are they both benefitting from this relationship? Or is one acting as a parasite? If this is so, which is the parasite? The female dancer who is always being supported and seems reliant on the male, or male dancer who initiated the relationship and seems to need the female's companionship? What do you think?
Science
In January 2011, Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences Journal released an article by Emily S. Cross and Luca F. Ticini titled Neuroaesthetics and beyond: new horizons in applying the science of the brain to the art of dance. This article explores the neuroscience aspect of learning and observing dance by looking at Pilobolus, which deals with high visually stimulating material. Part of Cross and Ticini's analysis looks at how dance helps characterize the relationship between perception and action in the human brain, specifically in how dancers can learn new movements. Cross and Ticini state,
"Dance requires a great degree of coordination not only between the different limbs of the body but also between the individual and fellow dancers, perception and action, and time and space...Dancers' ability to transform scant visual or verbal information into highly sophisticated and expertly executed movements has great potential value to scientists" (pg. 8).
The article continues by stating that the work of Pilobolus would be exponentially important to study due to the highly cognitive aspects of the choreography.
Pilobolus seems to intrigue audiences and scientists alike with their performances. With over 40 years of performance, it is impressive that they are still creating a buzz in today's evolving society.
References
Cross, Emily S., and Ticini, Luca F. (2011). Neuroaesthetics and beyond: new horizons in applying the science of the brain to the art of dance. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. Vol. 11, 5-16.
Pilobolus is a modern dance company that began in 1971. Pilobolus started with members Robby Barnett, Alison Chase, Martha Clarke, Lee Harris, Moses Pendleton, Michael Tracy and Jonathan Wolken at Dartmouth College. The group worked to create new, ground-breaking use of physicality and manipulation of the human form, with no boundaries in terms of touch or differentiations in gender roles. Their work has been characterized as "playful," "entangling," "defying logic," and "bizarre."
Pilobolus mirrors the experimental nature of Steve Paxton, who, like Pilobolus use gymnastics-like physicality in his work. In consideration of Paxton's development of contact improvisation, Pilobolus pushes this concept and creates their own form of contact dance, using the dancers' bodies collectively to create both recognizable and abstract forms.
This is a photo from Pilobolus's "Korokoro" featuring the choreography of Takuya Muramatsu. This picture displays Pilobolus's use of partnering which looks similar to Paxton's weight-sharing work, yet it is unique to the physicality and styling of the company and of Marumatsu's Japanese-inspired choreography.
In addition to Paxton, Pilobolus also uses similar a spectacle technique as Alwin Nikolais. Pilobolus has utilized the use of light and shadow in dance, a technique they displayed in the beginning video as well as for the 79th Academy Awards in 2007, where they created iconic scenes or images from the years' nominees.
This is a scene from Little Miss Sunshine, the scene where the family has to push their Volkswagen bus, and Steve Carrells' character is running to get in the vehicle.
To see the video of Pilobolus's 79th Academy Awards performance, click right HERE!
Today, Pilobolus consists of three distinct branches: Pilobolus Dance Theatre, Pilobolus Institute, and Pilobolus Creative Services. The Pilobolus Dance Theatre is the touring company. Pilobolus Institute is the educational programming branch which teaches classes. The Pilobolus Creative Services are considered the "movement services" for various aspects of advertising, networking, and corporate events.
Pilobolus is based out of Washington Depot, Connecticut. For the Pilobolus website, click here.
