When the wildly creative collaborative dance company, Pilobolus, kicks off the 2009-2010 Dance America series at Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, it will be for two dynamic performances at 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 25 and Saturday, Sept. 26. There will be a post-show Art to Heart Q & A with the company following the performance.

In the 39 years Pilobolus has been in existence, the company has earned a reputation as one of the world's most innovative and imaginative modern dance companies. The physical vocabularies of Pilobolus works are not drawn from traditions of codified dance movement but are invented, emerging from intense periods of improvisation and creative play.

The New York Times described the company thus: "The Pils... can be depended upon for stunning physical feats and visual surprises, a peek or two into the crannies of the heart and lots of humor, both awful and sublime." Pilobolus has astounded the world with its artistic antics and the wonder it engenders at festivals, such as the American Dance Festival in North Carolina, makes it a favorite. The Durham Herald-Sun said, "... this company ... knows how to wow ‘em with the agility of cheetahs, the flexibility of earthworms, the strength of a pit bull's jaws."

The Quick Center program is a mixture of new pieces and familiar classics. "Lanterna Magica" (2008) is the new full-company work by Pilobolus Co-Artistic director Michael Tracy. This work immerses the audience in the luminous spirit of the natural world and uses ritual and mythology to create a mysterious and irresistibly sensual celebration of the supernatural. With "Pseudopodia" (1973), a tumbling tumbleweed solo set commands attention with an all-percussion score. One of Pilobolus' very first works, "Walklyndon" (1971) is a silent dance owing much of its physical humor to slapstick and vaudeville.

The 1997 work, "Gnomen" is a Pilobolus classic men's quartet. Its lyrical exploration of relationships emerges from an unusually inventive physical vocabulary and is dedicated to the memory of friend and colleague, Jim Blanc. The newest work, "Redline" (2009), performed by six members of the company, is choreographed by Jonathan Wolken in collaboration with the entire company of seven.

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.

Tickets are $45, $40 and $35 and are available at fairfield.edu/quick or by calling the Box Office at (203) 254-4010. The toll free number is 877-ARTS-396.

Directions to Fairfield University: Located off I-95, exit 22 at 1073 North Benson Road, Fairfield, CT 06824.

Posted On: 08-28-2009 10:08 AM

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