Pilobolus Summer Intensive

Over the summer, I attended the Pilobolus "Serious Movers" Summer Intensive in Washington, Connecticut. The Intensive took place from July 19-23, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (usually we went until 5:30 or 6:00 p.m.). The teachers for this Intensive were Renee Jaworski, Rehearsal Director and Pilobolus Dancer, and Matthew Thornton, Adjunct Dancer. Matthew Thornton, as many of you may know, is the husband of a former KSU Dance Instructor, Alicia Diaz. Alicia attended the Intensive for three days, as well.

There were approximately 30 individuals who participated in the Intensive. The participants came from all over the world – Texas, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maine, Mexico, Canada – with a variety of “movement” backgrounds – professional dancers, college dance students, Pilobolus dancers, martial artists, theatre professors, college theatre students, acrobats, athletes, and many more. The diversity of this group was amazing and everyone contributed a wealth of knowledge.

The five day intensive focused on Pilobolian technique utilizing both individual and partnering work. The individual work included endurance exercises such as running exercises, individual improvisation, spatial awareness exercises, and many other movement explorations. A former Pilobolus dancer also conducted a “rolling” workshop that included techniques for getting into a roll from standing as well as rolling forwards and backwards across the floor smoothly. The partnering work was extensive and challenging. Throughout the workshop we changed partners to learn to work with different bodies. We learned over 15 different lifts and weight-sharing movements. All of these lifts and weight-sharing movements are a part of Pilobolus repertory. The partnering work was particularly eye-opening for me. I have a new understanding of my own body as well as how to share my body weight with others. We also separated into four groups to address choreography. The second piece of choreography that we created aimed at employing what we learned throughout the workshop and was presented in a showing on the last day.



The Pilobolus Intensive was a life-changing experience. I met extremely talented and inspiring individuals, a number of whom have become life-long friends. I discovered new muscles that I never knew existed and gained a new understanding of my body. This truly was one of the greatest experiences of my life and I plan to attend the Intensive again next summer!



--Jessica Mego (BFA Dance Performance Major)