Co-founded in 1971 by Dartmouth College students Robby Barnett, Jonathan Wolken, Michael Tracy, and Moses Pendleton, along with dance teacher Alison Chase and later Martha Clarke, Pilobolus has always challenged the usual conventions of dancemaking. They create dance collaboratively with a unique approach to partnering, approaching movement as athletes. They have often conceptualized their work as scientific in nature (exemplified by the early signature work Ocellus) – adopting the company’s name from a kind of single-celled, yet intelligent, fungus. When its take on Carl Orff’s iconic “Carmina Burana” premiered shortly before the performance seen at the Pillow in 1985, one critic applauded “the company`s inimitable knack for creating whole worlds all its own.” Today, the company is based in Connecticut and the artistic directors and company members maintain the collaborative approach to creating new work. In 2017, they premiered Branches on the Pillow’s iconic Inside/Out Stage, returning the following year with the new work seen here—the company’s first female trio.
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