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Come this time of year, most of us long for a month in the country.
But Pilobolus, the fungus-named dance troupe based in rural Connecticut,
works in reverse.
This summer, as it has for the past
16 summers, the troupe of six dancers and four artistic directors
will abandon the verdant hills of its native landscape and head
for the wilds of New York City, where it will set up camp at The
Joyce Theater, June 21–July 17. Three premieres and a host
of classics are in store.
Among the premieres is Alison Chase’s
sensually romantic retelling of the Greek story of Orpheus and Eurydice
(title to come). With some of the dancing taking place suspended
in the air, Chase creates a triangle that includes the classic lovers,
with Death as the great seducer. Chase sees Death not as an evil,
but as a mutable creature, who could be male or female, weak or
strong, yet an inevitable character in any love story.
It is a brilliantly energized world
into which Jonathan Wolken invites us in his “Megawatt,”
a premiere set to music by Radiohead, Primus and Squarepusher. Throbbing
with a fierce energy that catapults the bodies of the six dancers
through space, the dance’s acrobatic moves seem propelled
by flashes and shocks from invisible forces.
Michael Tracy takes a different tack
in his new work (title to come), a duet performed by Jennifer Macavinta
and Manelich Minniefee, a recent recruit.
Brimming with aquatic imagery and exploring varying levels of consciousness,
the dance begins with a sense of floating, a dreamlike quality that
gradually evolves into a passionate conclusion. The ambient style
music is by Aphex Twin.
Set to world music, “Star-Cross’d”
by Alison Chase, which premiered last season, crosses Shakespeare’s
classic tale of tragic love with Pilobolean moves. The dance calls
upon all six company members to play multiple roles, with several
of them simultaneously playing a single role. Jonathan Wolken’s
“Wedlock,” also a well-received 2003 premiere, is a
series of eight short tales told in duet form about different kinds
of relationships, some well-matched and some not so. Also from last
season will be Michael Tracy’s “My Brother’s Keeper,”
a quartet set to an original score by Christos Hatzis. The dance
is typically Pilobolean in its physicality and interconnected partnering.
Recent hits such as Tracy’s
“The Brass Ring” will be threaded through the season.
Commissioned by the 2002 Olympic Arts Festival, the dance, set to
classic American music, celebrates the differences and similarities
between athletics and dance. Tracy’s 2001 work, “Symbiosis,”
a delicate and erotic duet set to music by George Crumb, Arvo Part,
Jack Body and Thomas Oboe Lee, is also on the boards.
Look up for the return of Alison
Chase’s “Ben’s Admonition” (2002), a good
deal of which takes place with its dancers suspended in the air,
metaphorically exploring male friendship, feelings of trust, pleasure,
isolation and love. The music is an original score by Paul Sullivan.
In 2000’s “Tsu-Ku-Tsu,” Chase took a different
direction, creating an intensely energetic and biomorphic landscape.
In this case, the music is an original percussion score by the Japanese
Taiko drummer Leonard Eto.
And finally, what would a season of Pilobolus be without performances
of its beloved, platinum hits: “Day Two” (1980) and
“Untitled” (1975)?
The 2004 troupe includes Mark Fucik,
Andy Herro, Renée Jaworski, Jennifer Macavinta, Manelich
Minniefee and Matthew Thornton. The artistic directors remain: Robby
Barnett, Alison Chase, Michael Tracy and Jonathan Wolken.
Pilobolus Dance Theatre, which began
life in a Dartmouth College dance class, has received many prestigious
honors, including the Scotsman Award for its performances at the
Edinburgh Festival, the Berlin Critic’s Prize, the New England
Theatre Conference Prize, the Brandeis Award, the Connecticut Commission
on the Arts Award for Excellence and a 1997 Primetime Emmy Award
for Outstanding Achievement in Cultural Programming. The company,
which has a repertory of over 85 choreographic works, also received
the 2000 Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award, which
honors choreographers who have made a significant lifetime contribution
to American modern dance. In 2004, CBS’s “60 Minutes”
profiled the troupe, now in its 34th season.
Pilobolus's artistic directors have
also choreographed for and set works on several other companies,
including La Scala Opera, the Paris Opera Ballet, Berlin Opera,
Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Royal Danish Ballet, Les Ballets de
Monte Carlo, Nederlands Dans Theater, American Ballet Theatre, The
Joffrey Ballet, Italy’s Verona Ballet and Le Ballet National
de Nancy et de Lorraine. The company also collaborates on projects
with other organizations, such as the Jacob’s Pillow Dance
Festival, the National Theater of the Deaf and the Cleveland School
of the Arts.
Prior to its engagement at The Joyce,
Pilobolus will perform at the American Dance Festival in Durham,
NC (June 10–12). The company will continue touring throughout
the summer, with stops in Hartford, CT (August 7); Lake Placid,
NY (August 13); Manchester, VT (August 15); Westhampton, NY (August
21) and Medford, OR (August 28). This fall, Pilobolus will perform
in Fayetteville, AR (September 23–24); Chicago, IL (October
8–9); Atlanta, GA (October 17); Erie, PA (October 19);
East Lansing, MI (October 21); Flint, MI (October 23); Lincoln,
NE (October 26) and Muncie, IN (October 28).
The evening curtain for Pilobolus
Dance Theatre’s Joyce Theater season, Monday through Saturday,
is at 8pm. There will also be a 2pm matinee on Saturdays. Tickets
are $40, and 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.
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Leadership support for The Joyce Theater’s 2003-2004 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
The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc. to encourage
the performance of New York City-based companies at The Joyce Theater.06030
250 West 57th Street Suite
2318 New York NY 10107 USA
T: 212.245.5100 F:212.397.1102 eja@ejassociates.org
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ELLEN JACOBS ASSOCIATES
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