Akron Beacon Journal, Kerry Clawson   |  January 21, 2015

Pilobolus to bring shape-shifting to Cleveland

The gravity-defying dance troupe Pilobolus, known for its breathtaking shape-shifting using the human body as the medium, will give a single Cleveland performance at the end of the month at the State Theatre at PlayhouseSquare.

The five-dance program will be at 8 p.m. Jan. 31, including On the Nature of Things, inspired by ancient sculptures and the classical baroque. It's performed by dancers balanced on a two-foot wide column rising above the stage, set to music by Michelle DiBucci and Ed Bilous. The Washington Post described the dancers as having both impressive musculature and a "magical floating quality" in this work.

Also on the bill is All Is Not Lost, created by Grammy award-winning OK Go, Pilobolus and Trish Sie, as the live companion to Pilobolus' video collaboration with OK Go. The company will share its dramatic flair and quirky humor in the The Inconsistent Peddler, with music by Perez Prado and Tom Petty. The work was created by four of Pilobolus' artistic leaders in collaboration with fiction writer Etgar Keret and filmmaker Shire Geffen.

In Sweet Purgatory, set to lush music by Dmitri Shostakovich, the dancers will appear suspended in time and space. Finally, Cleveland audiences will be the first to see a preview of an unnamed new 2015 Pilobolus work.

Tickets start at $20. Call 216-241-6000 or see www.dancecleveland.org.

Pilobolus, named after a barnyard fungus, was founded in 1971 by a group of Dartmouth College gymnastic students. The inventive, athletic troupe has been seen on commercials, music videos and in appearances on the Academy Awards, Oprah Winfrey's show, Conan O'Brien and NFL Network.