Iconic PILOBOLUS Returns to NYC

Pilobolus in Ballad. Photo by Ben McKeown

The Joyce Theater Foundation (Linda Shelton, Executive Director) celebrates half a century of radical creativity as the final stop on the Big Five-OH! tour from the unpredictable and unstoppable Pilobolus. The extended three-week engagement, featuring three New York premieres, will play The Joyce Theater from July 11-30. Tickets, ranging in price from $10-$75, can be purchased at www.Joyce.org, or by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street. For more information and to read about The Joyce Theater’s detailed health and safety protocols, please visit www.Joyce.org. 

Putting the “Oh!” in the Big Five-OH!, Pilobolus brings a season-long celebration of its 50th anniversary to a close with an extended three-week engagement at The Joyce Theater. For half a century, the company has tested the limits of human physicality and explored the beauty of the human body through its breathtaking, mind-bending feats of movement. Having performed around the globe in events from the Oscars to the Olympics and on nearly every stage imaginable, Pilobolus propels itself into the next 50 years with an evening of dance only they can dream of performing.

Big Five-OH! is a remixed retrospective of the company’s work, a cunning combination of the vintage and the visionary. Fan favorites are on tap for the occasion, from the surreal vintage classic Untitled which helped cement the company’s place in the pantheon of dance theater, to Sweet Purgatory set to Shostakovich, to the explosive energy of Megawatt. The highly-anticipated highlight of the extended engagement is the New York premiere of three Pilobolus works, featuring collaborations with Darlene Kascak of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, Jad Abumrad (composer and founder of Radiolab, Dolly Parton’s America), choreographer Madison Olandt, and former Pilobolus dancers Derion Loman and Gaspard Louis. Now under the leadership of long-time members and creative partners Renée Jaworski and Matt Kent, Pilobolus taps into its signature wit, sensuality, and stunning physical ability to reimagine its past, envision its future, and turn traditions sideways.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

Program A:

Megawatt

Solo from Empty Suitor

New Work Sextet (NYC Premiere)

The Ballad (NYC Premiere)

Branches

Program B:

On the Nature of Things

Walklyndon

Awaken Heart (NYC Premiere)

Untitled

Behind the Shadows

Sweet Purgatory

(This program contains nudity)

Family Matinee:

Walklyndon

Behind the Shadows

Awaken Heart (NYC Premiere)

Solo from Empty Suitor

Branches

Tuesday, July 11 at 7:30pm                           Program A

Wednesday, July 12 at 7:30pm                      Program A (Curtain Chat)

Thursday, July 13 at 8pm                               Program A

Friday, July 14 at 8pm                                    Program A

Saturday, July 15 at 2pm                                Program A

Saturday, July 15 at 8pm                                Program A

Sunday, July 16 at 2pm                                   Program A

Tuesday, July 18 at 7:30pm                           Program B*

Wednesday, July 19 at 7:30pm                       Program B*

Thursday, July 20 at 8pm                               Program B*

Friday, July 21 at 8pm                                    Program B*

Saturday, July 22 at 2pm                                Family Matinee

Saturday, July 22 at 8pm                                Program B*

Sunday, July 23 at 2pm                                   Program B*

Tuesday, July 25 at 7:30pm                            Program A

Wednesday, July 26 at 7:30pm                       Program A

Thursday, July 27 at 8pm                               Program B*

Friday, July 28 at 8pm                                    Program B*

Saturday, July 29 at 2pm                                Program A

Saturday, July 29 at 8pm                                Program A

Sunday, July 30 at 2pm                                  Program B*

*Program contains nudity

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Pilobolus is a rebellious dance company. Since 1971, Pilobolus has tested the limits of human physicality to explore the beauty and the power of connected bodies. We continue to bring this tradition to global audiences through our post-disciplinary collaborations with some of the greatest influencers, thinkers, and creators in the world. Now, in our digitally driven and increasingly mediated landscape, we also reach beyond performance to teach people how to connect through designed live experiences. We bring our decades of expertise telling stories with the human form to show diverse communities, brands, and organizations how to maximize group creativity, solve problems, create surprise, and generate joy through the power of nonverbal communication. Pilobolus has created and toured over 120 pieces of repertory to more than 65 countries. Over the years we have performed our work for millions of people across the U.S. and around the world. Pilobolus has been featured on CBS This Morning, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, NBC’s TODAY Show, MTV’s Video Music Awards, The Harry Connick Show, ABC’s The Chew, and the CW Network’s Penn & Teller: Fool Us. Pilobolus has been recognized with many prestigious honors, including a TED Fellowship, a 2012 Grammy® Award Nomination, a Primetime Emmy® Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cultural Programming, and several Cannes Lion Awards at the International Festival of Creativity. In 2015, Pilobolus was named one of Dance Heritage Coalition’s “Irreplaceable Dance Treasures”.  Pilobolus has collaborated with more than 75 brands and organizations in finance, retail, media, fashion, sports, and more to create bespoke performances for television, film, and live events.

ABOUT THE JOYCE THEATER

The Joyce Theater Foundation (“The Joyce,” Executive Director, Linda Shelton), a non-profit organization, has proudly served the dance community for almost four decades. Under the direction of founders Cora Cahan and Eliot Feld, Ballet Tech Foundation acquired and renovated the Elgin Theater in Chelsea. Opening as The Joyce Theater in 1982, it was named in honor of Joyce Mertz, beloved daughter of LuEsther T. Mertz. It was LuEsther’s clear, undaunted vision and abundant generosity that made it imaginable and ultimately possible to build the theater. Ownership was secured by The Joyce in 2015. The theater is one of the only theaters built by dancers for dance and has provided an intimate and elegant home for over 400 U.S.-based and international companies. The Joyce has also expanded its reach beyond its Chelsea home through off-site presentations at venues ranging in scope from Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater, to Brooklyn’s Invisible Dog Art Center, and outdoor programming in spaces such as Hudson River Park. To further support the creation of new work, The Joyce maintains longstanding commissioning and residency programs. Local students and teachers (K–12th grade) benefit from its school program, and family and adult audiences get closer to dance with access to artists. The Joyce’s annual season of about 48 weeks of dance now includes over 340 performances – both digital and in-person – for audiences of over 150,000.

The Joyce Theater presents the culmination of Pilobolus’ Big Five-OH! tour from July 11-30. The performance schedule is as follows: Tue-Wed 7:30pm; Thu-Fri 8pm; Sat 2pm & 8pm; Sun 2pm. Tickets, ranging in price from $11-$81 including fees, can be purchased at www.Joyce.org, or by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street. For more information and to read about The Joyce Theater’s detailed health and safety protocols, please visit www.Joyce.org.

Leadership support for The Joyce Theater Foundation has been received from the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust. 

Champion support for The Joyce’s annual programming has been provided by Howard Gilman Foundation and The Shubert Foundation. 

Champion support for The Joyce’s Creative Residencies Program supporting choreographers and dance companies has been provided by Mellon Foundation.

Major support for The Joyce has been provided by Ford Foundation, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, MacMillan Family Foundation, The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, and The SHS Foundation. 

Underwriting support for The Joyce’s presentation of Pilobolus provided by Leslie Siegel.

The Joyce is supported in part by an American Rescue Plan Act grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support general operating expenses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Joyce Theater’s Summer ’23 season is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; and supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council with special thanks to Council Member Erik Bottcher.