Last Dance

The six-member touring Pilobolus Dance Theatre, based in bucolic Washington, CT, has been an international creative force since the early 1970s. Collaborative in nature, the company's dances evolve through a series of improvisational sessions that steadily shape each production, but the troupe experienced a bit of culture shock when author-illustrator Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are) came onboard to develop and choreograph "A Selection," inspired by the Holocaust. Filmmaker Mirra Bank's Last Dance follows the often stormy, but always brilliant relationship between the Pilobolus members and Sendak as the dance begins to takes form, combining scenes of rehearsal, interviews with the artists, and wrenching Nazi propaganda footage, culminating in a finished work that has awed critics and the public alike. DVD extras include an interview with Bank, and four short films featuring Pilobolus. Offering superior insights for the student of dance, as well as riveting entertainment for general viewers, this is highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (J. Reed)