Blog 12b TED Talk Pilobolus: A performance merging dance and biology

I was mesmerized by the two dancers who performed the sensuous duet, Symbiosis. The music, recorded by the Kronos Quartet is a compilation of works including " God Music" from Black Angels by George Crumb. They intertwined themselves to become one being throughout the performance. Drawing inspiration from biology the dance troupe has named themselves Pilobolus, a fungus that thrives in cow dung. The dancers, Otis Cook and Jennifer Macavinta each came together, then separated, then came together again with an ebb and flow using lifts and positions where the girl would stand on the man and entwine herself around him in a thousand different ways with continuous motion. Does it trace the birth of a human relationship, or the co-evolution of a symbiotic species? At times they looked like insects, other times they looked like underwater creatures. It was breathtaking to see the creativity of two human beings using their superb athletic and creative abilities to interpret music to form such an intimate and beautiful moving image.