Dance Review: Pilobolus at The Joyce

Up in the Air: Pilobolus takes Flight.

BY CHRISTOPHER BYRNE

Connecticut’s legendary and beloved modern dance troupe Pilobolus has often been featured in Connecticut Voice, including a cover story on this “rebellious dance company” in our Autumn 2021 issue. We followed up with them last year as they expanded their repertoire, celebrated a growing emphasis on diversity, growing from their original, virtually all straight male corps, formed in 1971 by  an Ivy Legue crew of athletes. For more than 50 years now, the company has continued to wow audiences with their unique combination of aesthetics and athleticism.

The company played Hartford in early June, and has recently embarked on a three-week residency at The Joyce in Manhattan, presenting two programs running in repertory.

At the performance I saw, the mood was warm and inviting as patrons arrived for Program A, entitled Trips. The dancers were warming up on stage, and the whole mood was celebratory and friendly. Seriously, just watching this troupe warm up is like getting a bonus show and almost being invited backstage to see their process.

The five pieces in the program each have a unique feel. Yet what unites them is the company’s ongoing commitment to “test the limits of human physicality.” All of the dancers and all of the pieces do just that with a level of artistry that is often gasp-inducing. Part of the thrill of watching this company over the years has always been the way they can create a kind of physical trompe l’oeil, mixing shapes, connecting, bounding, and bouncing off one another in ways that you might not think was possible…except you’re sitting there watching them do it.

The evening opened with Bloodlines, an intimate pas de deux between two women. Dancers Hannah Klinkman and Anouk Otsea were dressed in unitards with what looked like veins and underscoring the notion that we are all connected by blood in the present and over time. The dancers are rarely separate, and when they are, their connection is maintained through mirrored movement. It’s a beautiful, evocative piece that at times seems elegiac as rose petals fall and accumulate on the stage.

Walklyndon is a comic counterpoint to the opener. This piece is a cartoonish interpretation of a walk on a crowded street as collisions turn into incredible lifts and visual gags. This is a classic piece in the Pilobolus repertoire, and it’s such a joy to see it again. The exuberance, constantly surprising physical configurations, bright colors on the costumes, and natural sounds of the dancers’ bodies emphasize the joy of movement in everyday actions…even when it’s taken to extremes. Klinkman and Otsea are joined by Connor Chapparo, Alexis Cruz-Castro, Ryan Hayes and Isaac Huerta.

The third piece, Flight is an infectiously joyous study in humans’ fascination with flight. As the program notes, the piece was created by Pilobolus founding member Lee Harris, and the soars, dips, suspensions, ascensions, and sailing of the dancers through the air, captures the romance of flight. It was performed by Chapparo, Huerta, Klinkman, and Otsea. The final image in particular recalls when flight was romantic and daring.

The intermission is billed as a “layover,” capitalizing on the theme of the evening, as is the pre-show announcement, which is an ironic commentary on pre-flight announcements, and the need to turn off the darn phone.

The fourth piece is a solo, Pseudopodia, performed by Klinkman, takes its name from the concept the false feet of single-cell organisms use to move. Rather than traditional dance movements, the choreography relies on somersaults, rolling, and shape shifting. Klinkman’s performance is spectacular, and it’s often not possible to spot the impetus of a transition. The audience is just consumed with the constant movement, as if the organism, like all of us, is being controlled by the universe and unseen forces, only slowing or stopping when those abate momentarily.

That leads very naturally into the  last piece of the evening, Particle Zoo, if one judges by the title, appears to be a commentary on the inherent chaos of subatomic particles, and by extension (big extension), the universe. Performed by the four men in the company, it’s exhilarating, comic, and a very athletic and human perspective  on, and interpretation of, the way these particles collide or bond. The larger metaphor here is the particle that is at first unable to bond with the others but after a mutation (He takes of his shirt to be like the others who are bare-chested.), becomes part of the particle storm. And a storm it is with leaps, and incredible feats of physical prowess, at times gentle and at others bordering on violent. I won’t give away the final surprise, but it had the audience laughing and cheering at the performance I saw.

I’ve been a fan of this company for decades and always leap at a chance to see them, though certainly not with the level of athleticism and artistry the company achieves.

After their residency at The Joyce, they will be back in their home in New Milford on July 31 with their show Pilobolust. Find out everything they are up to at Pilobolus.org.

Pilobolus at The Joyce
175 Eight Avenue, Manhattan
Tues-Fri 7:30 p.m.; Sat, Sun 2 p.m. & 7 p.m.
Tickets from $67 at Joyce.org
Photos courtesy of the production
Featured photo: Particle Zoo. Photo credit: Emily Denaro

Posted June 30, 2026