From “head, heart” from love fail, filmed by Russ Anderson, T-Stop Productions
Pilobolus Executive/Co-Artistic Director Renée Jaworski and Artistic Director Matt Kent’s visionary artistry will be showcased as part of the Lorelei Ensemble’s reinvigorated love fail, debuting in February 2025 as part of the Denison University’s Vail Series in Granville, OH.
Originally composed by Pulitzer Prize-winning David Lang in 2012, love fail is a musical composition inspired by the Tristan and Isolde legend and stories by contemporary author Lydia Davis, as well as stories by Marie de France, and Richard Wagner, Gottfried von Strassburg, Béroul, Thomas of Britain and Richard Wagner. Described by Lang as “a meditation on the timelessness of love,” the piece was expanded for the Lorelei Ensemble, a women’s chamber choir led by Beth Willer. The Lorelei Ensemble performed and recorded the updated version in 2016.
Now, love fails takes on an even more robust form: Renée Jaworski and Matt Kent’s choreography deepens the piece's emotional and narrative complexity by bringing Pilobolus’s signature blend of physical storytelling and visual poetry to the performance. Performed by a quartet, the work features all-new material, including haunting visuals, characters, ghosts, ancient and modern expressions of love and relationships, and inspirations from twelfth-century troubadours to modern poetry.
“We started creating this work in 2019, but like so many projects, the pandemic delayed the full expression of the collaboration until now,” explained Jaworski. “We are so excited to finally bring our ideas to life with David Lang's beautiful composition and Pilobolus’s storytelling through movement alongside the live performance of the Lorelei Ensemble.”
Jaworski and Kent’s choreography adds a vivid physical dimension to the Lorelei Ensemble’s soaring vocals, with movement that blurs the lines between ancient and contemporary, real and imagined, grounding the universal themes of love fail in the tangible, expressive language of the body.
Interested in collaborating with Pilobolus? Contact us at info@pilobolus.org for more information on creative collaborations or bespoke project ideas.
