The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University and acclaimed dance company, Pilobolus, are growing a home for creative and collaborative experiences. | Press Releases

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (July 9, 2018) – For over 40 years, audiences around the world have celebrated the acclaimed dance company, Pilobolus. Much like the fungus it was named after, Pilobolus has the remarkable ability of orienting itself to point directly towards a light source, and that’s where the Quick comes in.

Fueling its creative process and a synergy for new experiences in our community, the Quick will serve as a creative home for Pilobolus. As part of the Quick Center’s Artists-in-Residence Program, Pilobolus will be welcomed onto campus to take a deep dive into creativity as its dancers explore and educate the community through a number of exciting collaborative programs.

Highlights include the site-specific work, UP! Umbrella Project on September 7 – an inspiring participatory performance developed in collaboration with MIT, in which participants become creators; and Performance Explosion – an experience unlike any other, as Pilobolus offers three different performances on the Quick stage in 24 hours.

Pilobolus will also offer integrated educational programs as the Quick welcomes the greater Fairfield community onto campus for a wide range of learning and performance experiences that will encourage movers of all abilities to engage with this acclaimed company of dancers and educators.

Additional information about the programs and performances is below. Registration and ticketing information is available at quickcenter.com.

Pilobolus Performance Explosion
Friday, September 21, 2018 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, September 22, 2018 at 2 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Experience Pilobolus like never before, with three performances in 24 hours! This ‘Ringcycle’ will feature performances of Shadowland 1 , Shadowland 2 , and a performance of well-known favorites plus new repertory.

Pilobolus @ Play Summer Intensive Camp
August 13 to 16, 2:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Ages 6 – 14
Come to the Quick for this one-of-a-kind opportunity to engage in Pilobolus’s signature processes of learning through movement. Through creative play, improvisation, motor skill building, and performance, you will discover your own creative voice and learn how to share it with others.

Pilobolus @ Play Collaborative Two-Session Workshop for Adults
August 14 & 16, 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
This unique two-session workshop encourages participants to engage in Pilobolus’s signature processes of learning through movement. Through creative play, improvisation, motor skill building, and performance, you will discover your own creative voice and learn how to share it with others.

UP! Umbrella Project : Created in collaboration with MIT
Friday, September 7, 2018 at 5:30 p.m. & 6:30 p.m.
Free
With a DJ and screens to share the experience in real-time, Pilobolus leads this incredible large-scale live performance piece as audience members wield lighted umbrellas. As participants change the color of their umbrellas, the collective landscape of colored bodies shifts. Shown through a bird’s-eye view projection, the visual is stunning and colorful.

Feel how the “whole” is indeed greater than the sum of its parts with UP!

“Connecting with Balance” – Open MINDS Institute
Instructor: Emily Kent, Pilobolus Education and Community Engagement Manager
Begins September 13 – Ends October 18, 2018
Six Sessions: Thursdays 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
“Connecting with Balance” is a series tailored to helping seniors reconnect with their bodies and environment. Exercises in movement and balance guide participants to maintain and improve balance, think creatively, and build community through social engagement. This class is open to all levels of ability – even to those who remain seated throughout.

For 45 years, Pilobolus has tested the limits of human physicality to explore the beauty and the power of connected bodies. The company continually brings this tradition to global audiences through their post-disciplinary collaborations with some of the greatest influencers, thinkers, and creators in the world. Now, in our digitally driven and increasingly mediated landscape, Pilobolus also reaches beyond performance to teach people how to connect through designed live experiences. Pilobolus has created and toured over 120 pieces of repertory to more than 65 countries and has been featured on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert , NBC’s TODAY Show , MTV’s Video Music Awards , and ABC’s The Chew . In addition, Pilobolus has been recognized with many prestigious honors, including a TED Fellowship, a 2012 Grammy Award Nomination, a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cultural Programming, and several Cannes Lion Awards at the International Festival of Creativity.

The mission of the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts is to create a dynamic and inclusive visual and performing arts center for the whole community that inspires intellectual curiosity, broadens perspectives, and transforms the way we see the world and how we interact with one another. Through high caliber artistic programs that each invite inquiry, experimentation, and reflection, the Quick aims to collaborate with performers, artists, and experts to inspire, engage, and involve audience members to enter into conversations with, journey with, and even co-create the artistic experience.

Learn more, register for camps and courses, and purchase tickets at www.quickcenter.com or by contacting the Quick Center Box Office at 203-254-4010.

Vol. 51, No. 1

Fairfield University is a modern, Jesuit Catholic university rooted in one of the world’s oldest intellectual and spiritual traditions. More than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students from the U.S. and across the globe are pursuing degrees in the University’s five schools. Fairfield embraces a liberal humanistic approach to education, encouraging critical thinking, cultivating free and open inquiry, and fostering ethical and religious values. The University is located on a stunning 200-acre campus on the scenic Connecticut coast just an hour from New York City.