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Pilobolus Dance Company

Artist Website

Pilobolus (crystallinus) is a phototropic zygomycete - a sun-loving fungus that grows in barnyards and pastures. It’s a feisty thing - only 1/4 inch tall - that can throw its spores nearly eight feet. Right over a cow. It is also a highly unusual dance company.

Pilobolus - the arts organism - germinated in the fertile soil of a Dartmouth College dance class in 1971. What emerged was a collaborative choreographic process and unique weight-sharing approach to partnering that gave the young company a nontraditional but powerful new set of skills with which to make dances.

Today Pilobolus is a unique American arts organization of international influence. It has not, however, forsaken its original impetus and remains a deeply committed collaborative effort with three artistic directors and over twenty-five full and part-time dancers contributing to one of the most popular and varied bodies of work in the history of the field. Nearly four decades of creative production testify to the company’s position as an arts collective of remarkable fruitfulness and longevity.

The 2010-11 season marks Pilobolus ’ 40th year. The company has continued to grow, expanding and refining its unusual collaborative methods to produce a body of over 100 choreographic works, and while it has become a stable and influential force in the world of dance, Pilobolus remains as protean and surprising as ever.


This is for information only and should not be reproduced. Please see full biography for further details.