An enchanting tale of illusion and dance, Shadowland – the ground-breaking performance by the internationally acclaimed dance troupe Pilobolus, returns to Australia after the acclaimed tour in 2014, with performances in Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Sydney and Adelaide throughout August & September 2016.
As the first theatrical event of its kind to tour the globe, Shadowland is best described as part shadow act, part dance, part circus and part concert, incorporating multiple moving screens of different sizes and shapes to create an evening-length performance that merges projected images and front-of-screen choreography.
The story is a surreal experience of a young girl’s sensational world as she comes of age. With the fluid logic of a dream, the grace of an acrobatic dance, the humour of the best cartoon, and the heart of a love story, Shadowland celebrates the strange transformative power of the dark to show us who we are in unexpected and thrilling ways.
Created in collaboration with lead writer for the popular animated series SpongeBob Square Pants Steven Banks, Shadowland is a universal and intimately portrayed experience that is both intensely dramatic and comedic.It is set to a rhythmic original score by the popular American musician, producer, and film composer David Poe, whose poetic work for Shadowland ranges from ballads to hard-driving rock numbers that lift the audience out of its seats. His much-loved songs illuminate the themes and visuals of this fascinating story and world.
Conceived and created by Pilobolus after several years of experimentation of the short shadow form, the result is a mixture of the Company’s signature style and innovative new forays into new media. Indeed, from an artistic standpoint, the new work incorporates Pilobolus’ legendary approach to modern dance combined with high-energy, fast-paced, multi-media innovation.
Known for its collaborative choreographic process and a unique weight-sharing approach to partnering and sculptural creations, Pilobolus discovered this new medium for playing with lightness and dark when it developed advertisements for Hyundai, and then performed at the 79th Annual Academy Awards in 2007, creating iconic images of the films nominated for Best Picture. Pilobolus embarked on the creation of an evening-length movement-theatre piece titled Shadowland, which to date, has performed over 200 shows worldwide.
Founded in 1971 by a group of Dartmouth College students with no training in dance and no interest in playing by the rules of classical dance technique, Pilobolus is a modern performance company that to this day wears its revolutionary stripes on its sleeves. The physical vocabularies of Pilobolus works are not drawn from traditions of codified dance movement but are invented, emerging from intense periods of improvisation and creative play.
In keeping with the energy and spirit of its biological namesake – a phototropic fungus that thrives in farmyards – the company has continued to grow toward the light, expanding and refining its unique methods of collective creative production to assemble a repertoire of over 100 choreographic works performed in over 64 countries.
Currently playing at Perth’s Regal Theatre until 7 August 2016, Shadowland then plays Arts Centre Melbourne (11 – 14 August), Frankston Arts Centre (16 August), Geelong Performing Arts Centre (19 August), Horsham Town Hall (20 August), Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo (21 August), Queensland Performing Arts Centre (23 – 28 August), Canberra Theatre Centre (30 August), State Theatre, Sydney (1 – 4 September), and Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide (6 – 11 September).
For more information, visit: www.shadowlandlive.com for details.
Image: Shadowland by Pilobolus – photo by Emmanuel Donny