 "First,
there’s Pilobolus crystallinus. It’s a phototropic fungus
of the family Zygomycetes. It’s macroscopic (it grows to about
1/4 inch at maturity) and it’s coprophilous. Actually it’s
enthusiastically coprophilous, for unlike its more fastidious brethren
(Lasiobolus cainii, for instance, grows exclusively upon the dung
of porcupines) Pilobolus is non-discriminatory in its love of dung
and if given a chance it’ll cycle through the digestive system
of any herbivore. It grows on a stalk as a small bladder, pressurized
by cell sap and topped with a tiny black cap filled with spores.
When time and Pilobolus are ripe, this entire sporangium is blasted
off with incredible force and the little spore bags can shoot over
a cow like clowns out of a cannon. It’s reported that the
acceleration - from 0-45 mph in the first mm of flight - is the
second fastest in nature. Pilobolus is also a fine marksman. It
has a kind of primitive eye that guides its aim and countertop experiments
with an illuminated target show it can hit a light source with remarkable
accuracy."
By
Pilobolus, the dance company
How
many fungi have a chance to prance and dance to live music and in
front of a live audience? Pilobolus, that fungus with muscle, will
present three New York premieres during its 2003 run at The Joyce
Theater, June 23-July 19. The first week will be highlighted by
live music performed by the St. Lawrence String Quartet.
Michael Tracy’s new work, "My
Brother’s Keeper," a quartet set to an original score
by Christos Hatzis, is typically Pilobolean in its physicality and
interconnected partnering that consistently draws awes from its
audience. The dance, created in close collaboration with the St.
Lawrence String Quartet, was premiered in Stanford, CA, where the
quartet was in residence.
"Star-Cross’d" by
Alison Chase, a premiere-in-progress set to world music, crosses
Shakespeare’s classic tale of tragic love with Pilobolean
moves. The dance calls upon all six company members who play multiple
roles. (At times, several dancers also simultaneously play a single
role.) The Joyce performances will present the first installment
of the work, which concludes with the balcony scene.
Jonathan Wolken’s dance, "Wedlock,"
is a series of eight short tales about different sorts of relationships,
some well and some mismatched, each expressed in duet form. The
music is to be announced, but expect a jazz-ish sound.
Recent hits such as Michael Tracy’s
"The Brass Ring" will be threaded through the season.
Commissioned by the 2002 Olympic Arts Festival, "The Brass
Ring" is set to American music by Aaron Copeland, Scott Joplin,
and Joseph Lamb, among others. The wacky, full company work, which
has the dancers costumed in comic action heroes fashion, celebrates
the differences and similarities between athletics and dance. Michael
Tracy will also be represented by his 2001 work, "Symbiosis,"
a delicate and erotic duet set to music by George Crumb, Arvo Part,
Jack Body and Thomas Oboe Lee. (During the first week of the season,
the St. Lawrence String Quartet will play Christos Hatzis’s
"Polypede" in place of the George Crumb score.)
In last year’s "The Four
Humours," Robby Barnett and Jonathan Wolken explore the centuries-old
categorization of man’s emotional temperament and physical
being according to the four humours: sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic,
and melancholic. The dance, a quartet set to an original score by
Richard Peaslee, transforms itself in mood and movement according
to the humour it explores.
Although inspired by a desire to choreograph
for the Rockettes, Alison Chase’s "Ben’s Admonition"
became a dance for two men; its subject is the play of an unexpected
and unusual fraternal relationship. Set to an original score by
Paul Sullivan, a good deal of the dance takes place with its dancers
suspended in the air.
Alison Chase’s "Tsu-Ku-Tsu"
is set to an original percussion score by Japanese Taiko drummer
Leonard Eto. Distinguished by its intensely energetic and biomorphic
landscape, the dance marks a change in Chase’s work from its
dependence on melody and story line.
"Sweet Purgatory," premiered
in 1991 and performed to Dimitri Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony,
Opus 110a, suggests a poetic resonance in its dark lyricism. The
work will be performed to live music by the string quartet.
The season will also feature early
Pilobolus works including the hilarious "Walklyndon" (1971),
as well as two other company classics: "Untitled" (1975)
and "Day Two" (1980).
Pilobolus has received many prestigious
honors, including the Scotsman Award for its performances at the
Edinburgh Festival; the Berlin Critics’ Prize; the New England
Theatre Conference Prize; the Brandeis Award; the Connecticut Commission
on the Arts Award for Excellence; and, in 1997, an Emmy Award for
Outstanding Achievement in Cultural Programming. Most recently,
the troupe received the 2000 Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival
Award, which honors choreographers who have made a significant lifetime
contribution to American modern dance.
Several of Pilobolus's artistic directors
have been awarded Guggenheim Fellowships and have choreographed
for and set works on other companies, including La Scala, the Paris
Opera Ballet, Berlin Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Royal Danish
Ballet, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, Netherlands Dance Theater, American
Ballet Theater, The Joffrey Ballet, Italy's Verona Ballet and the
Ballet National de Nancy et de Lorraine.
Following its Joyce Theater season,
the company will be seen in Aspen, CO (August 14-16) and then in
Santa Fe, NM (August 29-31). In September the company will cross
the Atlantic to Greece, where it will perform as part of the Athens
Festival (September 4-8). Coming back to North America, Pilobolus
will perform in San Juan, PR (October 4-5); Rockford, IL (October
17); Wichita, KS (October 19); Culiacan, Mexico (October 22-25);
Ft. Collins, CO (October 28); Greeley, CO (October 29) and Davis,
CA (October 31). Travelling back east the company can be seen in
Amherst, MA (November 5); Stonybrook, NY (November 8); Fairfield,
CT (November 14-15); Charleston, SC (November 18); Albany, NY (November
20); Hartford, CT (January 16-17); Birmingham, AL (January 23-24);
Key West, FL (January 26-27) and in Clearwater, FL (January 30).
The evening curtain for Pilobolus’s
Joyce Theater season Monday through Saturday is at 8pm, except for
Friday, July 4, when the show begins at 5pm. There will also be
2pm matinees on all four Saturdays. Tickets are $40. All tickets
are available at The Joyce Theater box office or by calling JoyceCharge
at 212-242-0800 or online at www.joyce.org. The Joyce Theater is
located at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street.
Pilobolus Dance Theatre is a
Joyce Theater presentation.
###
Leadership support for The
Joyce Theater's 2002-2003 season has been received from the LuEsther
T. Mertz Charitable Trust.
This Joyce presentation is
made possible, in part, with public funds from the National Endowment
for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts, a state
agency, and with private funds from an endowment created by the
Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund to encourage the performances
of out-of-town companies at The Joyce Theater.
060603
250 West 57th Street Suite
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ELLEN JACOBS ASSOCIATES
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