Move and Play Together: A Pilobolus Experience

Move and Play Together: A Pilobolus Experience is a creative movement workshop at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It is led by Emily Kent and Matt Kent and held over a weekend, as a residential program on the Kripalu campus. It is open to anyone, with or without dance experience, who wants to explore improvisation, collaborative choreography and playful, physical connection with others.

Pilobolus was founded by curious movers rather than traditional dancers, and this workshop keeps to that spirit. You work with the company's creative process through guided improvisation and group choreography, in a setting that is playful and physically engaging.

What to Expect

Each day begins with a guided warm-up, followed by structured solo and group improvisations. Together the group generates movement ideas, shares feedback in a constructive loop, and refines what it has made in an open, joyful atmosphere. The weekend closes with a supportive, celebratory final performance where you share what you have created.

Three threads run through the program:

- Joyful movement: heightening your connection to your body and finding new ways to express thought and emotion physically.
- Creative collaboration: building communication, trust and co-creation skills within a dynamic group.
- Performative play: learning to think on your feet and embrace the unknown, which sharpens problem-solving.

The aim is that the tools for communication, creativity and teamwork carry beyond the studio, so you leave with new friendships, a renewed sense of play and a way of approaching challenges in everyday life.

The program starts on the opening day with check-in from 2:00 pm, a Kripalu Yoga class from 4:45 to 6:00, dinner, and a first program session from 7:30 to 9:00 in the evening. Full days follow a steady rhythm: yoga from 6:30 to 7:45 am, silent breakfast, a program session from 9:00 to 11:30, lunch, a second session from 1:30 to 4:00, then another yoga class and dinner. On the closing day there is yoga and silent breakfast, a final session from 9:00 to 11:00, and lunch and departure from 11:30 to 1:30. Actual times may vary, and the schedule given at check-in has the details and room locations.

About Emily Kent and Matt Kent

Emily Kent and Matt Kent lead the workshop, bringing the Pilobolus approach to movement and collaboration to the Kripalu campus.

The Setting

Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, is a residential center, and your stay is part of the program. Accommodations are intentionally simple, designed to help you unplug and feel grounded, and range from private single rooms to community-style dorms. Rooms are ready by 4:00 pm, and a luggage room is available if you arrive earlier. Room check-out on the last day is at 10:00 am, though you may stay on campus and take part in workshops until 2:00 pm.

Three meals a day are included, with breakfasts taken in silence, along with access to the Kripalu grounds.

Before You Go

No experience or training is required. Whether you have not taken a dance class in decades, attend regularly, or have never danced at all, you are welcome. The program is taught in English.

Your stay includes more than ten daily yoga classes, three nutritious meals a day, and access to the grounds. Healing Arts sessions and items from the Kripalu Shop and Cafe are available for purchase separately. If the program is full, you can ask to be added to a waitlist and will be contacted in the order requests were received.