Pilobolus is named after a phototropic fungus, named
Pilobolus, that
Jonathan Wolken's father was studying in a lab at the time of the company's inception. The fungus grows on cow dung and propels itself with extraordinary strength, speed and accuracy. Pilobolus was founded by a group of
Dartmouth College students in 1971. Its inception work, from which the company is named, was developed in Alison Becker Chase's choreography class. In November 1977, Pilobolus made its Broadway debut in a limited engagement at the St. James Theater, to great acclaim. Arlene Croce, writing in the
New Yorker, praised the group as "six of the most extraordinary people now performing." Martha Clarke left in 1978. Pendleton left in 1990 after having collaborated with Chase in 1980 to form the offshoot group
Momix. The four remaining founders (Barnett, Chase, Tracy, and Wolken) continued as artistic directors, choreographing collectively and in various combinations in collaboration with new dancers brought into the company in subsequent years. Chase left in 2006 and went on to found her own company, Alison Chase Performance. Wolken died in 2010. Pilobolus performances are characterized by a strong element of physical interaction between the bodies of the performers and exaggerations or
contortions of the human form (or other
anthropomorphic forms), requiring extreme strength, flexibility and athleticism. From early on, the company "made a specialty of playful topsy-turvy entanglements that defied anatomical logic" and which sometimes "gave rise to bizarre imagery." This approach broke new ground, and soon "even choreographers who did not consciously borrow from the group enjoyed new license in bringing bodies (especially men) into closer physical contact" than previously. In 1980, Pilobolus performed "Black and Blue" with live music by the duo Stormin’ Norman &
Suzy Williams at The
American Dance Festival, choreographing their dance based on Suzy's movements. In 1999, Pilobolus collaborated with
Maurice Sendak and
Arthur Yorinks in the production of "A Selection", a work with the
Holocaust as its theme, documented in the film
Last Dance. In 2004 the company was the subject of a feature profile on
CBS's
60 Minutes. In 2007 Pilobolus appeared as performers in the television broadcast of the
79th Academy Awards. Their act was performed in silhouette behind a white translucent screen, where they formed various figures at intervals during the show: first, the Oscar statue itself; then logos (or scenes) from various films:
Happy Feet,
Little Miss Sunshine,
Snakes on a Plane,
The Devil Wears Prada, and
The Departed. At one point, they were introduced to the audience, wearing loose-fitting wraps. The act for
Snakes on a Plane included host
Ellen DeGeneres, who said afterwards, "They're naked!" Whether she was joking or serious was left to the imagination. Following the company's appearance on the 79th Academy Awards, Pilobolus's signature shapes and shadow work were featured in 2008 on the 39th Season of
Sesame Street, as well as on ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' and
Oprah Winfrey. In 2011, Pilobolus set a
Guinness World Record when they were able to fit 26 people into a
Mini Cooper. In October 2012, Pilobolus premiered UP: The Umbrella Project, the company's second collaboration with
Daniela Rus and the MIT Distributed Robotics Laboratory, at the PopTech Conference in Camden, Maine. Untrained participants wielding umbrellas fabricated with multi-colored LED lights, created a performance piece together that was projected in real time on a large screen. This Pilobolus piece, like all of the modern performance company's work over the last 42 years, was borne out of its proven method of
collective creativity. Pilobolus appeared on the December 7, 2016 episode of
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, doing holiday silhouettes to the tune of "
Low Rider". ==International Collaborators Project==