By Jovita McCleod
Staff Writer
Three decades and the fungus are still thriving. The Pilobolus Dance Theater — named after a fungus — returns to perform Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 8 p.m. in Smothers Theatre.
Pilobolus is not a new group to Pepperdine, as it has performed here in Malibu every other year for the past 15 years.
“We’ve developed a strong working relationship with them and it is part of our tradition to present them,” Marnie Mitze, managing director for the Center for the Arts, said. “They are a unique company, they always have new programs to perform and are also very entertaining and dramatic.”
Pilobolus is a six-member modern dance company of four men and two women. The company uses weight-sharing and partnering choreography that incorporates gymnastics, popular dance and humorous concepts to create what The New York Times describes as a “semiabstract, mime influenced, acrobatically virtuosic work.”
The company developed in 1971 out of a dance class at Dartmouth College. Moses Pendleton, Jonathan Wolken and Alison Chase were among the founding members and now serve as the artistic directors along with Michael Tracy.
The longevity of the company attests its ability to impress audiences. Throughout three decades, the company has held on to its original purpose as an artistic group collaborating to produce choreography that is new and challenging to audiences and dancers.
Pilobolus has consisted of different dancers through the years. The present company — some of whom were not even born when Pilobolus originated — come from a variety of backgrounds. Many of the Pilobolus dancers did not begin dancing seriously until they were adults.
Matt Kent, the dance team captain, said in his Pilobolus biography that his early training was in the martial art ninjutsu. He later began creating dance while studying music therapy. Dancer Jennifer Macavinita, who used a pair of ballet shoes she received on her eighth birthday as house slippers, did not begin studying dance until college, like other members of the troupe, Mark Fucik and Ras Mikey. Otis Cook, who danced with the Diavolo Dance Theatre in Los Angeles, has a background in gymnastics and architecture. Renee Jaworski has a bachelor’s of fine arts in modern dance.
Despite what some might call late beginnings, Anna Kisselgoff at The New York Times wrote in a dance review, “This is one of the best groups of dancers that Pilobolus has had.”
In an interview with the Detroit Free Press, Jonathan Wolken said of the group, “I think we are as healthy and as vigorous as we have ever been. There is something about our physical engagement with each other, about the architecture and humor of our work that audiences immediately understand.”
Pilobolus performed in Salt Lake City as part of the 2002 Winter Olympic festivities. The company is highly acclaimed around the world. They have performed in Russia, Europe, the Far East, and Central and South America. The choreography of the company can be seen in many major dance companies, including the Joffrey Ballet and the Ballet du Rhin in France.
Along with worldwide praise, Pilobolus has received many awards including The Scotsman Award for performances at the Edinburgh Festival, a Primetime Emmy Award and the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award for lifetime achievement in performance and choreography.
If you want to experience Pilobolus fuse group body sculpture in the line of Cirque du Soleil, gymnastics, dance and humor, a limited amount of tickets are available at the Smothers Theatre Box Office. Ticket price for Pepperdine students is $6 with an ID and $40 for the general public.
January 23, 2003
