Pilobolus3898
Image by U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv
Three members of the award-winning Pilobolus Dance Theater, which began as a group of students 40 years ago at Dartmouth, Jun Kuribyashi, Jordan Kriston and Eriko Jimbo,demonstrated their unique style of physical performance for 100 university dance and movement students, followed by a 90-minute workshop. During the workshop the dancers taught the students new techniques for balancing and using each other’s weight to perform complex moves. The Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance students enthusiastically joined in when Pilobolus dancers invited them to try exercises that encourage mutual trust and taught them to become “predictable moving partners.” They also told the students that if the audience doesn’t “either love or hate the performance, then you’re not doing your job.” The Pilobolus dancers’ teaching ability and their personal magnetism ensured that the workshop connected with the students within minutes and kept them rapt until the end of the session.