Society for the Performing Arts (SPA) is pleased to announce that their groundbreaking show SHADOWLAND: The New Adventure will perform one night only at Jones Hall for the Performing Arts in Houston on Friday, April 12 at 7:30 p.m. PILOBOLUS' SHADOWLAND shows are the first of a kind presentation of multi-media, shadow play and dance. SHADOWLAND The New Adventure is touring American cities following extended engagements in Germany and throughout Europe.
Created by famed dance company PILOBOLUS after years of experimentation with short-form shadow play, SHADOWLAND The New Adventure uses Pilobolus' exploration of mixed media to tell a love story about two people and their quest to save a magical bird. Employing animation, video and live shadow theater, this madcap adventure dips its toe into the genres of science fiction, film noir and romantic comedy. SHADOWLAND celebrates the strange and wonderful power of the dark to show us who we are in unexpected and utterly thrilling ways.
PILOBOLUS is an internationally renowned movement company. For 45 years they have tested the limit of human physicality, exploring the power of connected bodies. In 2009, Pilobolus created SHADOWLAND which has since performed in 32 countries, for over a million people. Now they are proud to now present this all-new Shadow adventure.
SHADOWLAND combines PILOBOLUS's legendary approach to modern dance with high-energy, fast- paced multimedia innovation, including multiple moving screens of different sizes and shapes, and a mind-bending merging of projected images and front-of-screen choreography that leverage darkness and light. European critics are in awe of SHADOWLAND; Stuttgarter Zeitung said, "Watching SHADOWLAND makes you speechless ... Pilobolus has given us something beautiful, touching and completely unexpected;" And, Le Parisien called SHADOWLAND "an amazing spectacle of inventiveness which is unclassifiable and inspiring."
PILOBOLUS is named after a barnyard fungus that propels its spores with extraordinary speed, accuracy and strength. The dance company was founded by a group of Dartmouth College students in 1971 and they continually form diverse collaborations that break down barriers between disciplines and challenge the way we think about dance. Physically and intellectually, the company engages and inspires audiences around the world through performance, education and creative consultation.
The creative team for SHADOWLAND is comprised of Executive Producer Itamar Kubovy, Co- Artistic Directors RENEE JAWORSKI and MATT KENT, Creative Collaborator Steven Banks (the Emmy-nominated head writer of SpongeBob SquarePants), Composer David Poe, additional Sound Design by David Van Tieghem, Lighting Design Thom Weaver, Set Design GREGORY LAFFEY and Costume Design ANDREW LAUER.
SPA's Education & Community Engagement department will be hosting a Student Night before the show on Friday, April 12. Students of all ages are invited to arrive at the Jones Hall for the Performing Arts at 6:00 p.m. and grab a snack at one of our food trucks in front of the theater, snap some photos at our photobooth, check out our HEB Performance Prelude and more! Contact education@spahouston.org for student ticket pricing information.
Founded in 1966, Society for the Performing Arts (SPA) is the largest independent non-profit presenting organization in the Southwest. Since its inception, SPA has sponsored more than 1,000 performances of the world's finest music, dance and theater events, in adherence to the belief that the arts are fundamental to the overall enrichment and quality of life within a community. In addition to presenting artists, SPA seeks to provide a variety of learning experiences for adults and children through master classes, lectures and special student performances, as well as build relationships between the performing arts and other interests within the greater Houston area and throughout the state of Texas.
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