On his first visit to campus, Itamar Kubovy, executive director for Pilobolus Dance Theater, acknowledged the unique Dartmouth character that is integral to the group's dynamic.Kubovy spoke of the "intellectual atmosphere" of the Pilobolus office, the conversations and debates that occur regularly, the group's appreciation for snow and their shared love of the outdoors and creative freedom.
"Then I came up here and realized, Wow, this is where it came from," he said.
The creative foundation for Pilobolus, which sprung from Dartmouth culture in the late 1960s and early 1970s, was a focal point of discussion at the Montgomery Fellow Lecture panel, which featured the group's three artistic directors: Robby Barnett '72, Jonathan Wolken '71 and Michael Tracy '73.
"There was this feeling that simply being in school here ... you could guide your intelligence in the direction you wanted it to go," Barnett said. "You are sort of given a sense of tools which were broadly applicable."
Wolken attributed the group's foundations to the "incredibly moving" feeling on campus during the time of the Vietnam War. Wolken noted a raised social consciousness and a constant questioning of the College's role in the war, speaking specifically to the challenge of being in college instead of fighting. Wolken connected this to the "un-collegiate" nature of Pilobolus.
"When you had a draft number, you needed to make up your mind. The emergence of Pilobolus was driven, among so many other factors, by this rather harsh reality," Wolken said.
According to Tracy, the College promoted interdisciplinary achievements, and that areas of study unrelated to performing arts fueled interest in modern dance.
"I think we took our education here in the very best possible way -- as a kind of spring board, a jumping off board, a kind of strange preparation for whatever there was to come," Wolken said. "We were prepared. There was that feeling that whatever was done would be well done, interestingly done and very motivated."
All three panelists agreed that while their chosen career path was unconventional, they found support from Dartmouth community members.
"There was this feeling that we could sculpt a life for ourselves that really fit us, it wasn't being handed to us," Barnett said.
Inspired by a dance class taught by Allison Chase in 1969, the enthusiasm which sparked Pilobolus came in part from the group's lack of dance education, Tracy said. Tracy mentioned that the original group organizers knew no dance vocabulary or technique.
"Ignorance for me has always been a source of entertainment and of productivity," Tracy said. "It was a challenge for us to make a dance; we had no clue what it meant."
While members of the group do not have degrees in dance, their education has contributed to Pilobolus' choreography, Tracy said.
"You bring all of what you have into that room, you bring the human side of you -- your childhood, your relationships, what you ate that morning," Wolken said. "All of these things come into the room with you, and your education comes into the room with you."
The group, currently based in rural Connecticut, has intentionally separated itself from an urban atmosphere, remaining connected to the wilderness around Dartmouth.
"The energy for moving came from where we were," Barnett said. "We were in the country, you have to find that kind of energy. You have to find some kind of enthusiasm for space."
According to Wolken, the creativity within the studio is an art separate from the drama of the outside world.
"We go into the studio hopeful, perhaps hapless, perhaps with all of our baggage and all of our history and we still create despite all of that stuff. Despite the environment, despite the realization that the world is warming and despite the hopelessness of it all," Wolken said. "And despite the melting ice caps, despite the nuclear threat, [we] create something ... valuable, precious and good enough to serve forth."
