PILOBOLUS TOO
Pilobolus Too (PTOO) has been called the little luxury edition of Pilobolus productions; two bravura dancers, veterans of many years of national and international touring, present new and classic work and are a masterful teaching team. Offering in school performances designed specifically for school spaces as well as workshops for all ages, the dancer/actor/teachers have introduced Pilobolus' unique perspective on collaborative creative activity to tens of thousands of people around the country.
In the classroom workshops, Pilobolus Too breaks down dance to basic concepts of time, space and energy and then asks students to explore these qualities through structured improvisation exercises. PTOO is especially recognized for their ability to unlock students' imagination while instilling a strong sense of responsibility and respect for each student's movement. This coupled with the shared risk of expressing oneself through dance destroys boundaries of social standing and stereo types and reaches out to a wide range of students-to boys and girls, athletes and drama students, the gregarious as well as the timid.
"Pilobolus Too was a tremendous success at Bowling Green Middle School!"
Brad Hufty, Principal Bowling Green Middle School
Dance St. Louis and Pilobolus Too:
Dance St. Louis has brought the Pilobolus Too institute to St. Louis and surrounding Missouri counties 1998-2004. This project began in the Parkway School District and blossomed to Warrenton and Wright City, Missouri, the Rockwood School District, Bowling Green and Elsberry, Missouri, and a small residency at a juvenile detention center in St. Louis. Major funding for these projects has come from the Missouri Arts Council and from the participating communities and arts councils.
"ShemoVes reflected the discipline, the skill with improvisation, and the ability to work collaboratively which many of our Parkway dancers learned though our work with Dance St. Louis...Lessons learned from (Pilobolus Too artists) have also been integrated into our Parkway curriculum, and shared with other dance educators through the National Dance Education Organization and the Missouri Dance Education Organization. This was an authentic experience for the kids: creating, learning, and performing a dance in just three weeks, something they could experience working in a dance company."
Lorilee Richardson, Dance Educator Parkway School District