Veering From the Standard, Returning to the Spirit
Ruby Washington/The New York Times
“Darkness and Light” is having its New York premiere as part of the troupe’s current season. More Photos>
Pilobolus, like any dance company, has several styles. Some of its works are visions of imaginary biology, some are human dramas, some are about clowning. But since its early years the purest Pilobolus experiences have involved metamorphosis. We see both physicality and illusion. Bodies become imagery, and one image merges into another, organically, poetically, inexplicably.
This year Pilobolus has collaborated with someone outside its family: the puppeteer Basil Twist. Working with Robby Barnett and Jonathan Wolken, Mr. Twist has given the company “Darkness and Light,” an engrossing work that seems at once a return to pure Pilobolus essence and a complete departure from basic Pilobolism.
The New York premiere performances of “Darkness and Light” occur as part of Program 3 of the troupe’s current season at the Joyce Theater. At first you see its seven performers, largely naked, and bright lights shining out from the stage. But this is a mere prelude: the dancers and their props are just the raw material. A white curtain descends, whereupon the real stuff of “Darkness and Light” commences.
It’s a shadow play, a drama of silhouettes on the screen, and in part it’s as innocent as the games in which you hold up two hands so configured that they become a rabbit and next a church and steeple. What’s this dark shape? A vase? A funnel? No, it’s a torso. Now it acquires arms and, next, a head. When that head turns in profile, it has a haircut and bristling eyebrows — prosthetic? — unlike those of any Pilobolus performer. Soon this face is distorted into something else.