![Shawn Ahern hangs upside down in chains with Matt del Rosario in another portion of “[esc].”](https://vip.nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2013/08/11-1e037-pilobolus2-300x300.jpg?w=300)
Shawn Ahern hangs upside down in chains with Matt del Rosario in another portion of “[esc].” (John Kane)
Chains, a stripper’s pole (above and below) and a plastic bag over a dancer’s head figure in “[esc],” a Penn and Teller dance for Pilobolus. (Grant Halverson/ADF)
Chains, a stripper’s pole (left and right) and a plastic bag over a dancer’s head figure in “[esc],” a Penn and Teller dance for Pilobolus. (
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Pilobolus just hooked up with illusionists Penn and Teller — but the result is less than magical.
The 42-year-old troupe opened its season Tuesday at the Joyce with a new generation of toned, honed, barely clothed dancers doing a mixed rep of old and new works, including a premiere, “[esc].” And for its first two performances, the company had a trick up its sleeve: Penn and Teller materialized to narrate and host.
As the title suggests, “[esc]” involves several complicated escapes from locks and boxes. They ranged from sexy — two guys chained together on a stripper’s pole — to hair-raising, when a woman was duct-taped to a chair with a plastic bag taped over her head. Do not try this at home.
Another fellow was tied in a sack, then locked in a box that two audience members helped bolt together. Watching that was like watching someone assemble a bookshelf from Ikea.
“[esc]” tipped its hat to Harry Houdini, but didn’t really move beyond what we’ve seen before. Apart from some contortions involving putting a guy into a duffel bag, Pilobolus added little of its own physical trickery.
Happily, two old numbers on the program showed how the troupe made its name as innovators as well as acrobats. “Ocellus” and “Day Two,” from 1972 and 1980, are slow, dreamlike processions — almost moving sculpture. The dancers clamber round one another, forming totems and centipedes, or hang from poles as if flying. There’s plenty of near-nudity, and these performers look great naked.
A newer short work takes longer to set up than to perform, but it’s worth the wait. “All Is Not Lost,” made two years ago in collaboration with Trish Sie and rockers OK Go, have the dancers performing on top of a clear table with a camera underneath.
You can either watch the dance on the right or the live feed projected onto a screen on the left. Amazingly, they look quite different — and different still from OK Go’s music video. Dancers launching or wriggling themselves across the table and sliding off are caught at a different angle by the camera and turned into a kaleidoscope of images.
“All Is Not Lost” is perfect for Pilobolus: the group’s trademark acrobatics updated with new technology. But why did Penn and Teller use a troupe of dancers and gymnasts to perform a Vegas magic act? That’s an unsolved mystery.