A film by
Jeffrey Ruoff
New Boston
Films
In a few
hours, 2013 will be a memory. And looking back at this past year in the
performing arts, dance and film have been everywhere. In twelve short months, these
creative collaborators have gone from artsy dance films to television
competition/reality series to live interdisciplinary performance to 3-D movie
telecasts to dance documentaries. In this last category, dance and film meet under
unique circumstances, sharing a real-life story that allows the performing arts
community to make the imperative link between today’s work and the past. But
just like everything else, some documentaries are better than others. What distinguishes
the best documentaries is when the subject matter is great and the filmmaking is great. Jeffrey Ruoff’s new film, “Still
Moving: Pilobolus at Forty” meets both criteria. While aptly chronicling the
history of this dynamic, one-of-a-kind troupe, Ruoff mixes archival material,
interviews, rehearsal footage and performance film with thoughtful and careful
interdependence. From the early stages of inception to the present day company,
“Still Moving: Pilobolus at Forty” captures the ever-changing nature of
artistic creativity.
The story told
by “Still Moving: Pilobolus at Forty” begins in the early 1970s at Dartmouth
College in Hanover, New Hampshire. The film notes that at this moment in time,
the campus was dominated by a culture of newness, change and beginning. And for
a small group of students, dance was part of ‘the new’. With no pre-conceived
notions about movement and no previous training, these brave souls leapt into
the creative forces of dance and physicality. Pilobolus was birthed (its
namesake, a phototropic fungus) and the stage was set for collaborative
practice and collective composition. While Pilobolus’ initial core group went
through some changes, three voices emerged and came together as the artistic
directorial team: Jonathan Wolken (who unexpectedly passed away in 2010), Robby
Barnett and Michael Tracy, all of whom are interviewed throughout the
documentary.
Through these
interviews, the early years of Pilobolus are remembered: constructing movement
vocabulary; building style; defining look. Shapes in space were a fascination
for all involved and more specifically, how dancers moving together could
create new and more intricate patterns. To that end, contact partnering really
became embedded in Pilobus’ work. Rather than textbook contact improvisation,
they envisioned a more collective, interactive conversation between bodies. The
examination of formal choreographic concerns were of equal importance including
issues of performance and process alongside space and time. But “Still Moving:
Pilobolus at Forty” is clear to show that for this group of artists, nothing
was static. Instead, Pilobolus opted to look toward evolutionary systems and
the migrating intersection of science and art.
With the
background information established, Ruoff turns his focus to Pilobolus today,
focusing on what has changed and what has stayed the same. After forty years,
the company has grown into an arts organization with several different arms.
“Still Moving: Pilobolus at Forty” focuses mostly on the performing company,
Pilobolus Dance Theater, and the teaching program, the Pilobolus Institute. For
the former, Ruoff follows the group as they prepare for the 40th
anniversary performance at Dartmouth College, featuring a new collaboration
with Art Spiegelman. And with the latter, Ruoff gets a front row seat to a
number of master classes.
With any good
documentary, the viewer knows more about the subject matter than they did
before. And with Ruoff’s documentary, this is certainly true – in thirty-eight
short minutes, the audience has learned a great deal about Pilobolus and their
vital contribution to the performing arts. But the great documentaries have an
additional, somewhat quieter result. Aside from the gained knowledge and
detailed information, they bring realizations. “Still Moving: Pilobolus at
Forty” reveals that over four decades, the dance group has been able to morph
while still staying true to its initial core vision. And for those who are
lucky enough to be Pilobolus ‘insiders’ – dancers, artistic staff, technical
team – their personal experience
is a deliciously unspecified, yet guided, journey.