1971

Later this month, the Pilobolus Dance Theatre, described by New York Times arts critic Clive Barnes as "one of the new leaders in American modern dance," begins its first Broadway season. The group was founded in the summer of 1971 by Moses (Robb) Pendleton and Jonathan Wolken, whose backgrounds were in athletics rather than dance. While at the College, both studied dance in Alison Chase's studio course. The group originally consisted of the two founders, together with Lee Harris '73 and Robby Bennett '72.

In 1973, Alison Chase left her faculty position to join the group, as did Martha Clarke, wife of sculptor Philip Grausman, Dartmouth's artist-in-residence in 1972. Later, Harris left to be replaced by yet another Dartmouth graduate, Michael Tracy '73. These six comprise the present troupe. The company is named after a genus of vigorous, light-loving fungi which, according to Wolken, thrives on horse manure and is known for its ability to hurl its spores vast distances around the barnyard.

Last April, PBS devoted an entire program of its "Dance in America" series to the group. Following a tour of Paris, London, Istanbul, and Australia, the group appeared last July in New London, Conn., and again on August 27 in Newport, R. I., performing at the 1977 American Dance Festival. In Newport, the company performed a duet, "Shizen," featuring Pendleton and Miss Chase in a living sculpture essay set to Indian-style music. The two solos featured Miss Clarke in "Harvest," described as a "work in progress," and Wolken in "Renelagh on the Randan," a mime sketch performed to the music of German composer Georg Philipp Telemann.

The Newport performance moved critic Barnes to describe Pilobolus as a "do-it-yourself kit for people who decided they would like to dance but substituted instinct for heritage and their own gymnastically trained bodies for the quite differently trained bodies of dancers. Add a little mime, the thoughtful drama of closet symbolism and mix the whole thing together and you have a new form of pop dance. A form for which, so far as popularity goes, the sky could be the limit."

Sara and Steve Zrike are the proud parents of a baby girl, Sara Maria, their second child, born May 17. Steve is a product manager of the household products division of Colgate-Palmolive Company in New York City. The Zrikes live in Hartsdale, New York.

Colby Morgan, living in Garden City, N.Y.,.is practicing aviation law in Mineola.

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