Along The Lines of Lineage

Pilobolus originated from four non-trained dancers who were undergraduates enrolled in their first ever college dance class at Dartmouth College. Their studies were more concentrated on Biology and Chemistry, which proves to be a contributing artistic factor later on. Robby Barnette, Lee Harris, Jonathan Wolken, and Moses Pendelton comprised the inception of this unique and groundbreaking performance company. The four were assigned to a group choreography project for their class taught by Allison Chase. The project was so well received that they decided to choreograph for the end of the year show at Dartmouth. Performed in 1971, the work was so successful that it was taken to a performance at New York University that same year. The unique movement composed by the newly derived dancers dazzled audience members. Their piece was choreographed with a new approach called “collective choreography” or “choreography by consensus”.

The movement and choreographic ideas were so witty and fresh that the students developed a significant following and decided to form a company. Their works have semblances of gymnastics, folk dancing, balancing, pole-vaulting, and fencing specifically because these were the non-academic movement backgrounds of the four creators of the company. The company members drew inspiration from one another by attempting new and inventive ways to defy gravity and challenge typical conceptions of movement. Their influences were not drawn from the similarities, but the differences found between the contemporary dancers of their time and their company. As a company, Pilobolus was determined to give the audience something they had never seen before. They were a major handprint in the world of concert dance and still apply their intentions for the company’s creative movement processes to this day.