American Dance Festival Tickets

I went to this event with a friend and her daughter (age 10) and my daughter (age 13). All of us loved it and loved the interaction with the audience afterward. The dancers were so impressive with their stamina and talent. We would certainly see them again when they are back in town or would go to see them in NY. ( i think that is where they were from) We loved the diversity of the group and the authentic styles of dance that they did. It was interesting to note that ballet was the main dance that all had studied. I think most of all, we liked the contemporary part. Just different from what we had ever seen. My daughter loved it more than the Beauty and the Beast ballet she had just seen at Memorial Auditorium. VERY Entertaining!

I was so excited about taking my three year old daughter to see a ballet performance at DPAC but I was very disappointed. DPAC had advertised this performance as a kid friendly show but it was not. The music was terribly loud and frightening at times and the content was not age appropriate. One particular scene talked about how a child liked to get naked and dance and be beaten by her mother. I was shocked and my daugter was confused!

these guys have been excellent through the years. I've been to 6 different performances, up till now all outstanding, entertaining, thought provoking, quite different from any other dance group. And I will go again, but if the next one is as mediocre as this show it will be the last. Have the new set of dancers cast their own influence on the performance to simplify or slow it down? I hope it was just a measure of their choice of pieces to perform, Pilobolus has an enormous repertoire and hopefully will return to some of their better work in the future.

Was disappointed in small number of performers.... had there been more dancers involved, there would not have been need for lengthy pause between pieces. Was also disappointed in length of show and number of pieces presented. Though the performers' athleticism is impressive and entertaining, I expected to be blown away and wasn't. Perhaps my expectations were too high.

I bought tickets to the Pilobolus matinee because it was so much cheaper than the evening shows. But what I didn't notice is that this was the special "Children's Matinee" performance. So it was me and a lot of 4-7 year olds. Unfortunately, there wasn't much dancing by Pilobolus and more interactive stuff for kids. I'm sure it'd would've been great if I were 7, but I'm 27. I was a bit disappointed but it was my own fault -- I should've looked more closely when buying the tickets. On the plus side, the couple of short pieces that the group did perform, particularly the last one, were dynamite.

Fabulous. Even though I was not with a small child, the children around me loved the performance, while the performers also were able to communicate with their adult audience. The precision and beauty were breath-taking.

The creativity, balance, strength and fluidity in this performance was just astounding. I actually did not know when I purchased tickets that it was a kid's matinee but it still was quite a show. I definitely wish we had gone to the evening performance, It must be phenomenal.

The matinee had a lot of young children in the audience which was a bit distracting but my 7 yr old daughter said when asked what she thought, and summed it up in one word-AWESOME!

This event was wonderfully tailored toward children and their attention span. It was very exciting for my 6 year old. Pilobolus is so great with its stunning visuals -- loved pseudopodia and Lyndonwalk. Less exciting (though still wonderful) was the last piece with the chairs (Rushes?). It was a little bit long and lacked in the acrobatics of the other pieces -- the movements were smaller for the most part. There was one part where bugs and other things were projected onto a piece of fabric -- that was cool, and the movement of the chairs was beautiful, as was the "skating", but again that last piece might have been better for an older audience, and I might have replaced it with a piece that had larger, more "visual for a child" movements (a la Lyndonwalk). Still, one of my top 5 dance companies and it was a treat to join you for the afternoon. My son loved it and we tried some of the movements later in the pool. We also both loved the short bits of audience participation. Overall, bravo!

This was my 5th time seeing Pilobolus and I have never been disappointed. I particularly liked this performance because it was made up of 5 short numbers. My favorite though was one initially performed in 1972 in which the whole number consisted of the dancers molding their bodies together in different forms. most of the time you could not tell who was upside down and who was right side up and which limbs went with which body. All the numbers except this one were whimsical, which I liked. 4 of us went together, 2 of us had never seen Pilobolus and we all enjoyed it.

My husband and I went to see the performance of Pilobolus Friday night. We both very much appreciate the performances of the ADF particularly Pilobolus! They are our favorite. My first experience of watching Pilobolus on stage at the ADF dates back to the summer of 1982. We have attended many performances year after year since then. My background is in dance ( ballet, jazz, and modern specifically) so I am an avid fan. but I was somewhat let down by the new choreography. I thought the choreography from the 1970s,1980s and 1990s was more dynamic more creative, more provocative, more thought provoking, more intense, more dance expertise, more AMAZING.... Now don't get me wrong, I can look at some of the things they were doing in the newer choreography like Rushes 2007 and know as effortless as they make a move look (chairs moving for example) it is extremely difficult, but I just felt the choreography was better back in the earlier days. I still enjoyed the performance and will look forward to next season's ADF. I will be curious to see what they come up with next!

Redline (2009) opened the evening with the Pilobolus-style of truly modern dance with a blast of Mad Max versus Hip-Hop. Ocellus (1972) showcased their signature dance -- balance in motion. 2b ( 2009) debuted, before the intermission. This piece was an abstract rendition of a low flying Cirque De Soliel, provocative, but not our favorite. Walkyndon (1971) provided comic relief before the more emotive Rushes (2007). We think they saved the best for last.

Pilobolus is one of those companies that impress and astound even those who don't have any training or much familiarity with dance (like myself). Their physicality by itself is amazing, as they constantly move in ways it doesn't seem like the human body can, but Pilobolus goes beyond that by adding humor, drama and surrealism to create work that stays with you.

The ADF Pilobolus show was as great as expected. It might even have exceeded my expectations. The revival pieces from the early '70s were wonderful. They definitely earned many "wow's" from me. I asked my husband what he would have said if he actually saw these amazing performances in the '70s and he replied "Groovey!" The new pieces were equally fantastic. I'm hoping to take my 4 year old grandson to the Children's show because I anticipate rave reviews from him as well! It was an exciting, exhilarating event in a great setting at the new Durham Performing Arts Center.

Attending Pilobolus at ADF is an annual must for us. Both the old and new pieces were great.