With unparalleled physical ability, the remarkably athletic dancers of Pilobolus push the human body to its outermost limits. Co-founded by Moses Pendleton, the creator of Momix, Pilobolus artfully combines dance with acrobatics and creative, outside-of-the-box invention. Celebrating its 40th year, the company continues to wow audiences with one of the most popular and varied repertories in dance. The New York Times wrote that “the company provides a much-needed breath of fresh air in the somewhat solemn climate of modern dance in New York.” Tickets are $45 general, $45 Senior/Child and $25 HSU students. Tickets are available at the University Ticket Office and at humboldt.edu/centerarts.
Pilobolus (crystallinus) is a phototropic zygomycete – a sun-loving fungus that grows in barnyards and pastures. It’s a feisty thing – only 1/4 inch tall – that can throw its spores nearly eight feet. Right over a cow. It is also a highly unusual dance company, about to embark on its 40th year of evolution. Pilobolus, the arts organism, germinated in the fertile soil of a Dartmouth College dance class in 1971. What emerged was a collaborative choreographic process and unique weight-sharing approach to partnering that gave the young company a nontraditional but powerful new set of skills with which to make dances.
Today Pilobolus is a unique American arts organization of international influence. It has not, however, forsaken its original impetus, and it remains a deeply committed collaborative effort with three artistic directors and over twenty-five full and part-time dancers contributing to one of the most popular and varied bodies of work in the history of the field. Nearly four decades of creative production testify to the company’s position as an arts collective of remarkable fruitfulness and longevity. Pilobolus is based in Washington Depot, Connecticut and performs for stage and television audiences all over the world.
Pilobolus has received a number of prestigious honors, including the Berlin Critic’s Prize, the Brandeis Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award for outstanding achievement in cultural programming. In June 2000 Pilobolus received the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award for lifetime achievement in chorography.
The 2010-11 season marks Pilobolus’ 40th year. The company has continued to grow, expanding and refining its unusual collaborative methods to produce a body of over 100 choreographic works, and while it has become a stable and influential force in the world of dance, Pilobolus remains as protean and surprising as ever.
For more information and credit card orders call CenterArts at 826-3928 or at humboldt.edu/centerarts.