Biography
Pilobolus—named after a barnyard fungus that propels its spores with extraordinary speed, accuracy and strength—is a dance company founded by a group of Dartmouth College students in 1971. Pilobolus continually forms diverse collaborations that break down barriers between disciplines and challenge the way we think about dance. Physically and intellectually, the company engages and inspires audiences around the world through performance, education and consultation.
Pilobolus propels itself in a variety of directions to reach these goals. The original company, Pilobolus Dance Theater, has been touring its 115 pieces of repertory to more than 64 countries over the last 42 years. Pilobolus Shadowland, the company’s evening length show that has toured extensively in Europe, the Middle East and Asia and has been seen by more than a million people in the five years since it was created. Shadowland toured N.America for the first time in the 16/17 season and will be back again in the US in 17/18 season.
Pilobolus’s collaborative creative and educational work takes place through the Pilobolus Lab, in which the company both convenes diverse artists in the development of new work and teaches its creative method to individuals and institutions. To date, the Pilobolus Lab has produced collaborations with Penn & Teller, the MIT Distributed Robotics Laboratory, Art Spiegelman, Maurice Sendak, OK Go, Radiolab, and many others.
The Lab’s educational programming—which applies Pilobolus’s unique collaborative process to help all kinds of groups work better and achieve common goals—includes workshops, master classes, residencies and children’s programming. Educational partners include Brooklyn Academy of Music, and NYC and CT Public Schools.
Recent News
Pilobolus Makes History with Ground-Breaking Performance in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
The Acclaimed Company’s Performance of Shadowland Marks Three Major Firsts in The Kingdom: The First Performance by an International Dance Company in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia The First Performance of Any Kind with a Male and Female Cast Performing Together The...
Reviews
Reviews
“It’s as if we’re being given a fleeting glimpse of the inner workings of the universe.”
Alastair Macaulay, The New York Times
“Pilobolus isn’t like most dance companies. Their performances feel almost like rock concerts….On Tuesday, they delighted the sold-out audience at the Fine Arts Center at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst….By the end, the audience was standing on its feet, giving Pilobolus a well-deserved standing ovation…..Personally, I was more excited by the fact that some of the group’s most recent pieces were some of their best ones. Just goes to show – Pilobolus still knows how to make great dances, even if they never learned how to play by the rules.”
“Grace meets physical agility to create movement that is as lyrical as it is astonishing.”
The Sunday Oregonian
“[Pilobolus dancers] are a vibrant, self-sufficient vision that challenges us to see the world — and art — anew.”
Claire Messud, Departures
“If the dance world has a summer movie blockbuster equivalent, it must be Pilobolus.”
Associated Press
“There are other companies that take art to extremes, but Pilobolus proves once more that it does it best.”
Philadelphia Inquirer
“Pilobolus embodies a large part of what the best in contemporary dance is all about: discovery. Making something new with the same standard body parts the rest of us have.”
The Washington Post
“Although formed way back in 1971, Pilobolus still exudes an aura of freshness and often revolutionary concepts that other dance companies don’t even approach”
“They [Pilobolus] made it OK to be funny, quirky, and silly… this performance was a perfect and stunning mix of every human emotion”
