Tied so closely to choreographer Heinz Poll that the company cased to exist after his death in 2006, the Ohio Ballet was founded by Poll and lighting designer Tom Skelton in 1968. While it was originally a student company drawn from Poll’s classes at the University of Akron, the group turned professional in 1974 and made the first of several Pillow appearances just three years later. Mr. Poll and Tom Skelton, the theater and dance lighting designer who was Mr. Poll’s companion, founded the Chamber Ballet, later the Ohio Ballet, in Akron in 1968. Originally consisting of Mr. Poll’s students at the University of Akron, where he taught ballet for many years, the company turned professional in 1974. Although the repertory leaned heavily on Poll’s own contemporary ballets, his modern-dance sensibility led him to acquire works by Kurt Jooss, Merce Cunningham, Laura Dean, and Paul Taylor. The Pilobolus work seen here demonstrates the company’s signature versatility.
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