Pilobolus (Photo by John Kane)
The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County is proud to present a special two-night-only engagement showcasing the critically-acclaimed dance troupe, PILOBOLUS DANCE THEATRE. World-renowned for their innovative mix of the human imagination and corporeal dexterity, and memorable performances on widely televised programs such as the Academy Awards and “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” PILOBOLUS is destined to create a wondrous dance spectacle for South Florida audiences. The troupe will make its Arsht Center debut on March 2 and 3, 2012 at 8 p.m., in the Ziff Ballet Opera House as part of the Knight Masterworks Season, Sanford and Beatrice Ziff Dance Series. Tickets range from $25 to $90 and are on sale now. Tickets may be purchased through the Adrienne Arsht Center box office by calling (305) 949-6722, or online at www.arshtcenter.org.
Renowned across the globe for an imaginative mix of humor, invention, and drama, PILOBOLUS creates a wondrous dance world with each performance. The company incorporates dance, gymnastics, performance art and shadow play. Employing the human body as pure sculptural matter, the dancers link and unlink, twist and tumble, creating an ever-changing series of forms, many evocative of the natural world. All this translates into a visually dazzling body of work that, through both intelligent humor and bittersweet melancholy, has amazed audiences for more than four decades Having performed live on stage in 63 countries and counting, PILOBOLUS has become an American dance institution—and a dance genre unto itself—and remains as innovative and influential as ever.
“It is an honor to present the Pilobolus Dance Theatre company as part of our Dance at the Arsht Season,” said M. John Richard, president and CEO of the Adrienne Arsht Center. “The dance troupe’s iconic and imaginative mix of humor, invention, and drama, coupled with incomparable dance, gymnastics, performance art and shadow play will surely leave South Florida audiences in awe.”
PILOBOLUS began in 1971 at Dartmouth College as an experimental dance company, and quickly became renowned across the world for its imaginative and athletic exploration of creative collaboration. The company has also been featured, with great popularity, on broadcast media: In 2004, CBS’ “60 Minutes”; in 2007, the Academy Awards, hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, and shortly thereafter, the “Oprah Winfrey Show”; twice in 2008 on the “Late Show with Conan O’Brien”; and sixteen times in conjunction with football games on the NFL Network. PILOBOLUS has received a number of prestigious honors, including the Berlin Critic’s Prize, the Brandeis Award, the New England Theatre Conference Prize, and a Primetime Emmy Award for outstanding achievement in cultural programming. In June 2000, PILOBOLUS received the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award for lifetime achievement in choreography. In 2007, artistic directors Robby Barnett and Michael Tracy, along with PILOBOLUS co-founder Jonathan Wolken received the Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Endowment Fellowship from Dartmouth College. In 2010, PILOBOLUS was the first collective to be given the Dance Magazine Award, which honors men and women who have made lasting contributions to the art.
Pilobolus (photo by John Kane)
Pilobolus’ Arsht Center engagement will also include a Modern Dance Master Class at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 3, 2012. The 90-minute master class will incorporate the company’s signature work themes: dance, gymnastics and performance art. The class will focus on the PILOBOLUS method of collective creativity, how individuals make things, solve problems, and meet challenges in groups. The educational program will be held in the Peacock Foundation Studio located in the Ziff Ballet Opera House. The class is FREE (reservation required) and is open to participants of all range of abilities, ages 16 and up. Those interested in participating must call (786) 468-2270 to make a reservation.
