Creative courage, innovation keep Pilobolus audiences coming back

By Tara Mitton Catao

So what would interest a collective of seven super-creative, highly-athletic dancers? Think out of the box. Search your imagination. Dancing with quadricopters? Been there, done that. Seeing how many dancers can fit into a mini-Cooper? Ah, good one, but it’s so three years ago. (The answer is 26, and by the way, Pilobolus holds the Guinness World Record for that feat).

On Friday night, after two years, Pilobolus Dance Theater returned to the Duncan Theatre and, once again, performed to a sold-out crowd. Audiences the world over love this company and its creative courage. This clearly translates into repeat business as audiences return year after year to see what new intrigue is in store for them. This year, it was automation, tango and magic presented in a new format of transparency with open curtain and stage work done right alongside the dancers.

As always, it was a very entertaining but not particularly dance-y program. Adding another dimension to the evening was four great video/film clips which were shown between the onstage presentations. From synchronized kite flying to just-about-everything exploding, these visual clips gave the look of an evening-length work but left the interpretation of the relationship of each segment up for grabs.

Automaton (2012) explored, albeit somewhat somberly, the complicated relationship between man and machine. Looking a bit like Blade Runner or Mad Max, the lines between human and automated got blurred as couples and motions surfaced amongst the compilations of mechanical movements and structures while being reflected in three large, moving mirrors.

The theme of automation continued in a terrific film clip where 1950 Americana themes captured in black-and-white photographs where fused in a fantastic animated collage. The images, meticulously set to music by Bonobo, slowly built from nostalgic photos into giant, stomping-on-buildings robots that were very Monty Python. A comment on our nemesis or our demise?

The next work, Skyscrapers (2012), was bright and engaging. Presented in a small area between two black drapes and in front of a changing screen of images of brightly colored walls similar to the famous painted houses of the La Boca barrio in Buenos Aires, the dancers charmed us with their physicality and energy.

The moving strip of tangoing couples was reminiscent of viewing a celluloid strip. With a multitude of costume changes at miraculous speed, the six dancers quickly returned with yet another partner and seamlessly filled the frame. Delightful and humorous, the work seemed too short; however, it is better to be left wanting more. The women dancers Eriko Jimbo and Jordan Kriston looked terrific in their tango moves and gold lamé ballroom high-heels.

Rounding out the program was Ocellus (1972), which highlighted the company’s renowned trademark style and was one of the first works created by the four Dartmouth College gymnasts who founded Pilobolus. It is a classic Pilobolus work and 42 years later, it still works.

[esc] (2013) is the result of a collaboration with the famed illusionists Penn & Teller and, together with the exposed staging, was definitely entertaining, but somehow a little academic. Using the traditional illusionist’s method of audience member participation in building and verifying the Houdini-type apparatus, the dancers transformed into veritable illusionists before our very eyes. Some of the method of freeing themselves of their constraints we saw, and some we didn’t.

Shawn Fitzgerald Ahern and Matt Del Rosario, chained and interlocked around a 13-foot pole, maneuvered with that classic Pilobolus strength and agility while a funny narrative compared them to strip pole dancers. There was also the padlocked box trick where, in just a few second behind a drape, one dancer miraculously exchanged places with the dancer locked in the box, even managing to trade their clothing.

But my favorite illusion was the one where Mike Tyus, the new (just 7 months) company member, was tied into a pretzel with a rope and unceremoniously stuffed into a very small, carry-on canvas bag together with a folded set of pajamas. After humorously inchworming his way around the stage, he emerged untied and dressed in the pajamas.

Licks (2013), which closed the program, used varying lengths of heavy rope as props. Building from the manipulation of long ropes serenely vibrating in space to look like sound or light waves, to the pulsing flogging of the floor with short ropes in the violent feel of the finale, this new work was signature: an exciting, risk-taking endeavor created by a dedicated collective. Rounding out the excellent performances by all the company members were Benjamin Coalter and Nile Russell.

In the Q & A session following the performance, it was evident that Pilobolus creates a strong and lasting connection with its viewers. Hardly an audience member left after the show ended and all the company members returned to be on stage as they enthusiastically shared their craft, their creative process and their joy in their work.

Was it just that Friday was Valentine’s Day or is it no surprise that everyone is in love with Pilobolus?