The circus just came to town — and its name is Pilobolus. The acrobatic dancers opened their season Monday with a show heavy on stage magic and light on depth: a sort of pint-size Cirque du Soleil.
Opening night featured two New York premieres, each with a gimmick. “Automaton,” from Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, tries for emotional depth, but it’s all done with mirrors — an enormous angled one overhead and three large hand-held ones. The cast of six moves those around to conceal or reflect one another. For added sex appeal, they strip off a layer and embrace as the mirrors open and shut like flower petals.
The other premiere, “Skyscrapers,” was more straightforward. Choreographer Trish Sie, who created hit videos for the band OK Go, created a live-action version of her video, using six dancers instead of a couple to make the magic of film possible: The cast tangos in front of vividly colored projections in outfits that somehow always match the background. It’s short, fun and unpretentious.
The older works on the program also relied on good gimmicks. The most interesting is “Duet,” filled with complicated partnering and balances. In this case, however, the heavy lifting’s done by two women.
The guys get their turn in “Gnomen.” They tumble over one another, and three of them pass a fourth smoothly among them while he stays pressed overhead.
Short films help pass the time between lengthy set changes. The most memorable flick is one shot after another of things blowing up in slow motion. It’s the perfect metaphor for the program — cool, but not to be taken seriously.