{"id":28458,"date":"2013-12-18T02:44:43","date_gmt":"2013-12-18T09:44:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=28458"},"modified":"2013-12-25T02:12:20","modified_gmt":"2013-12-25T09:12:20","slug":"pilobolus-shadowland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=28458","title":{"rendered":"Pilobolus: Shadowland"},"content":{"rendered":"

“If it gives you joy then you don’t have to explain it<\/em>” David Poe<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Pilobolus<\/a>
Pilobolus – Shadowland\/Photo: Emmanuel Donny<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If it gives you joy – if I want to describe Pilobolus I could almost stop there, because an evening with Pilobolus is to experience joy. I could almost stop there, because you really have to see them in action to understand the magic of Pilobolus. The dance company will happily be returning once more to Israel with Shadowland<\/em>, an evening length work created in collaboration with Steven Banks (SpongeBob SquarePants) and David Poe who wrote the score.<\/p>\n

Constructing fantastic visions onstage with their bodies, their performances have the fascination of a conjuror\u2019s trick, yet even more amazing because it is all real. The physical abilities of the dancers are astounding, they make the impossible seem effortless. The imagery of Pilobolus creates a surreal environment in which each magical moment is to be savored.<\/p>\n

\"Pilobolus<\/a>
Pilobolus – Shadowland\/Photo: Emmanuel Donny<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The founding members of Pilobolus \u2013 Robby Barnett, Lee Harris, Moses Pendleton and Jonathan Wolken first came together in a dance class taught by Alison Chase at Dartmouth College in 1971. Although the group has seen some changes \u2013 Chase joined from 1973 \u2013 2006, Pendleton left to form Momix, Michael Tracy replaced Harris in 1974 \u2013 the core group of artistic directors has remained together for a remarkably long time, with Wolken\u2019s death in June 2010 a sad loss to the company. It was Wolken who gave the Pilobolus its unusual name, from a fungus he encountered in his work in a biophysics laboratory. Ever popular with audiences, Pilobolus received the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award in 2000, and has been the subject of a feature profile on CBS\u2019 60 Minutes.<\/p>\n

Pilobolus began the International Collaborators Project (ICP) in 2007, , inviting visiting artists to create new works with the company. The first collaborators were the Israeli choreographers Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak, and together they created Rushes. Commenting on the experience of working with the company<\/a>, Inbal Pinto said, \u201cIt\u2019s a live organism, the dancers are an active part of the creation, and they are the life of the place. You can throw them a ball, paper, nothing \u2013 and they go with it. They come to life through being together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pilobolus has collaborated with artists in diverse fields: writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak, comic artist Art Speigelman, MIT Distributed Robotics Laboratory directed by Professor Daniela Rus, Belgian-Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and many more.<\/p>\n

Pilobolus will be performing Shadowland<\/em> at the Israeli Opera from December 25 – 27, 2013. Tickets may be ordered online<\/a>, or call: 03-6927777
\n