PILOBOLUS IS re:INVIGORATING
In 1971, at Dartmouth College, three non-dance students were asked by their composition teacher to create a dance piece. The students were Jonathan Wolken, Steve Johnson, and Moses Pendleton and they did not shy away from the project; they created a piece called Pilobolus, the name of a mushroom only ¼ inch tall that can throw its spores to a distance of 10ft. Since then, Pilobolus has become one of the most important dance companies in the world, they even performed at the Oscars and the Olympic games; Wolken and Johnson have abdicated to current artistic directors Matt Kent and Renée Jaworski; and Pendleton created the celebrated dance company Momix.
Pilobolus is now back at the Joyce Theater presenting a stunning show, re:CREATION, with two NYC Premieres showcased in a two-program, three-week run. The program I saw was Memory, six old and new dances performed by six outstanding dancers who were warming up on the bare stage – and chatting nonchalantly with friends– when I entered the theater, an interesting welcome. After a group huddle, the dancers ran off stage and the curtain came down. The first dance was Untitled (1975), an iconic Pilobolus piece of theatrical comedy created by the founders with music by Robert Dennis, costumes by Kitty Daly and Malcolm McCormick, and lighting by Neil Peter Jampolis. Two charming young ladies in late 1800s gowns, Marlon Feliz and Hannah Klinkman, playfully moved around stage entertaining a silent conversation. Sometimes, to our surprise, they became twice their heights — standing on or against Quincy Ellis and Connor Chaparro, who we did not see because the gowns were very long — but Feliz and Klinkman maintained a graceful liveliness as if they were BFFs casually strolling on stage, going on dates with two gentlemen (played by Sean Langford and Derion Loman,) fighting and making up with them.
Untitled (Brigid Pierce)
Behind the Shadows is inspired by one of the most important Pilobolus works, Shadowland (2009), with music by David Poe, lighting and props by Yannick Godts. Humorous and wicked, ominous and captivating, the dance starts with the shadows of a giant hand playing with a girl and immediately becomes a surreal tale where the girl turns into a dog. The ensemble gave an exquisite performance showing how creative and powerful connected bodies can be; they also revealed how Pilobolus’ shadow dance technique works but it did not matter, it was still enchanting and mesmerizing, they do bring shadows to life.
Behind the Shadows (John Kane)
Noctuary closed the first part, a dreamy dance with an interesting score by Jad Abumrad that went from Chopin to night sounds. The male dancers’ costumes by Valerie St. Pierre Smith were a bit silly (unlike the ones for Feliz and Klinkman) but the muscular grace of Ellis, Chaparro, Loman and Langford and their logic-defying lifts that made Feliz and Klinkman glide effortlessly prevailed over them. Lighting, by Thom Weaver, complemented the oneiric mood.
Noctuary: Dancers Zachary Weiss, Marlon Feliz, Nathaniel Buchsbaum,
Hannah Klinkman, Quincy Ellis, Derion Loman (Steven Pisano)
After intermission, we were greeted with another magical piece, Tales from the Underworld, with alluring music composed and performed on stage by Stuart Bogie, and clever costumes by St. Pierre Smith. The lighting design, by Weaver, generated a magical game of light and darkness that included and excluded parts of the stage in a linear dance that followed the ensemble. The six dancers moved around like souls in Dante’s Inferno, light like feathers, connecting and dispersing, while testing the limits of human athleticism.
Tales from the Underworld: Dancers Krystal Butler, Jacob Michael Warren, Zachary Eisenstat,
Nile Russell, Nathaniel Buchsbaum (Megan Moss-Freeman)
The last dance, Branches, brought us back to Earth, precisely in the jungle thanks to David Van Tieghem’s sound design and Weaver foliage effects, and the dancers transformed into different animals expressing joy in an excited Darwinian physical play.
Branches (Brigid Pierce)
re:CREATION is another exquisite show by the “Arts Organism” called Pilobolus; these incredible dancers, sagely directed by Kent and Jaworski, have remarkable physical control, they can create all sorts of lyrical illusions and make acrobatic feats look effortless. Go, even if you do not care for modern dance, it’s an experience you will not regret.
re:CREATION
Pilobolus
The Joyce Theater in Chelsea, 175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street
for tickets ($12-$82), call 212-242-0800 or visit Joyce
remaining performances:
(note: the Memory program has full frontal nudity)
Thursday, August 1 at 8pm — Dreams
Friday, August 2 at 8pm — Dreams
Saturday, August 3 at 2pm — Memory
Saturday, August 3 at 8pm — Memory
Sunday, August 4 at 2pm — Memory
Tuesday, August 6 at 7:30pm — Memory
Wednesday, August 7 at 7:30pm — Dreams
Thursday, August 8 at 8pm — Memory
Friday, August 9 at 8pm — Memory
Saturday, August 10 at 2pm — Memory
Saturday, August 10 at 8pm — Memory
Sunday, August 11 at 2pm — Dreams