Pilobolus- ‘Trips’ – A Striking, Original Evening of Dance

By Alix Cohen

Since 1971, Pilobolus has offered some of the most original thematic and choreographically creative work in dance. I’ve been a fan for decades. This year’s offering, at least in the program I attended, seems more serious, much of it both conceptually and physically challenging. Pushing envelopes is a signature. While I miss humor, the evening was riveting.

Program B

On the Nature of Things (2014) Created by Robby Barnett, Renée Jaworski, Matt Kent, Itamar Kubovy in collaboration with Shawn Fitzgerald Ahern, Benjamin Coalter, Matt Del Rosario, Eriko Jimbo, Jordan Kriston,Jun Kuribayashi, Derion Loman, Nile Russell, Mike Tyus
Performed by Connor Chaparro, Isaac Huerta, Hannah Klinkman

Inspired by De Rerum Natura (“On the Nature of Things”), ancient statuary, and Leonardo da Vinci’s belief that artistic constraints can foster greater creativity, this work explores emergence of human consciousness, desire, and conflict.

A male dancer enters carrying (without touching) a peer, limp, over his shoulder. The body is placed on a raised platform about 3’ in diameter. Dancer #2 slowly looks around, puzzled, getting a sense of boundary. Dancer #1 exits and returns with a woman draped much the same way. She is laid down mostly on top of the first figure. These two explore one another, always interdependent, precariously suspended over the edge, yet never leaving the platform.

#1 observes, approaches, and joins the others. They mount, slide, coil around, support, and athletically lift one another. How three figures can maintain balance, grace, and control on such a small area without ever looking awkward or entangled, is a marvel.

#1 is clearly drawn to his initial baggage and pushes the woman dancer off. A heated pas de deux with the other man ensues.There’s roughness now, some jerking, wrestling-like movement. Eventually #1 is pushed off. A prone body on either side frames the single dancer now bowing.
Classical music and vocal elevates. This is just beautiful.

Virtuous & Vicious (NYC Premiere) choreographed by Renée Jaworski and Matt Kent in collaboration with Hannah Klinkman, Derion Loman, Connor Chaparro, Ryan Hayes, Isaac Huerta, Darren Robinson, Jessica Robling
Performed by Connor Chaparro, Ryan Hayes, Isaac Huerta, Jessica Robling

Dancers begin under flashing light, in a signature heap as if one organism.Choreography depicts a series of shifting relationships. Figures merge into sculptural forms, separate into individuals, and recombine in unexpected ways. Trust and resistance exist simultaneously with lifts, counterbalances, and rapid changes of weight.

It’s difficult at times to distinguish where one dancer ends and another begins. Emphasis on collective movement rather than individual virtuosity is a company hallmark. Leaps are sometimes aborted. Lifts are engineered in unexpected fashion. Dancers stand on one another’ chests or shoulders. In front of one another, bodies optically form Xs, Ts, Ms. The electronic score suddenly, parenthetically quivers as do puppeted performers.I found this piece less cohesive than it might be.

Lamentation Variations Created by Renée Jaworski, Matt Kent, Derion Loman in collaboration with Connor Chaparro, Ryan Hayes, Isaac Huerta, Hannah Klinkman, Darren Robinson, Jessica Robling
Performed by Connor Chaparro, Alexis Cruz-Castro, Ryan Hayes, Isaac Huerta, Hannah Kinkman, Anouk Otsea

The Lamentation Variations project invited choreographers to create new works inspired by Martha Graham’s iconic Lamentation. A lone figure encased in stretchy white cloth lit from within, walks down the aisle and is helped on the stage. Whereas Graham’s piece is a solo, Pilobolus suggests that grief is not carried alone but can be supported and transformed through human connection.

Heads emerge and disappear into cloth. Inner movement creates shapes. Dancers line up, symbiotically interlinked in caterpillar formation. At one point cloth contains three figures. Push, pull, stretch, reform; synchronized co-dependence. Limitation stimulates creativity, creating unusual visuals.

Suddenly all dancers are underneath a single cloth covering the stage. They burst forth in stark, white light. WHEN did someone lay the cloth? Magic.

Day Two – Directed by Moses Pendleton
Choreographed by Daniel Ezralow, Robert Faust, Jamey Hampton, Carol Parker, Moses Pendleton, Peter Pucci, Cynthia Quinn, Michael Tracy
Performed by Connor Chaparro, Alexis Cruz-Castro, Ryan Hayes, Isaac Huerta, Hannah Klinkman, Anouk Otsea

We hear a storm- thunder, lightening, rain; tropical birds, drums. Rather than presenting a literal retelling of Genesis,
Day Two materializes as an abstract series of emergence and encounters; life forms surface from chaos.

Arms bend at the elbow, haunches stabilize manifesting insect like creatures that move forward grasping ankles. Bodies bend from the waist and remain, arms swinging, wiggling rear ends. Somersaults test possibility. A dancer is passed beneath the legs of another. Seesaws are formed. Partnering shares weight in visually arresting ways. Performers climb around one another with precision.

Wings appear and are tested.Underpinned/borne by rods, women are carried on either side.Tension and release, bursts of energy and stillness indicate evolution. The message? Life develops from interconnectedness.
Rhythmic music is infectious.Unintelligible rap is perhaps meant to be the murmur of emerging creatures. Occasional clarity would be welcome.

There’s no weak link in this group of terrific, young dancers, but Hannah Klinkman is outstanding.

A marvelous evening of ideas, imagination, skill and beauty.
Opening Photo Lamentation Variations – by Emily Denaro

Except for costumes in Virtuous & Vicious (colored patchwork leotards by Márion Talán de la Rosa), dancers wear barely anything, allowing us to appreciate body architecture, power, and visceral movement.

Pilobolus: a “sun-loving fungus” (which shoots its spores with explosive energy)

Pilobolus- Trips
Executive/Co Artistic Director – Renee Jaworski
Artistic Director- Matt Kent
Marvelous Lighting by Gabriel Esparza
The Joyce Theater 175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street
June 23- July 12, 2026
https://www.joyce.org/performances/pilobolus-n86f?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23904052774&gclid=CjwKCAjw6f3RBhApEiwAMaCqWRwRjsjWVn8UKa5X44-thSX9Y2nV0ORk4IJGCwZO8Fo0L7IWdNwexBoC0A8QAvD_BwE