Prehistoric Body Theater shows at Bedog Festival, Yogyakarta, Indonesia on October 3, 2027

Prehistoric Body Theater "S17 and the Devil's Trumpet"

One man's poison is another's treasure.  Deep in the wild of Ice Age Java, a band of Homo erectus eat the fruit of the Devil's Trumpet, and face the test of the realm of dreams.   

Shown at IMPROVE Festival @improvedid.official, July 1st 2026, UNESA Surabaya @official_unesa.

Artistic direction by Ari Rudenko (@arirudenko.prehistoricbody), created in collaboration with and performed by Arif Pam (@arifsuryaa), Citra Seni Bella (@citra.blls), Franky Sianturi (@frnkkk_y), Lucky Wisnu (@luckywisnu_). 

Wednesday and Thursday, June 25-26 at 5:30pm | Henry J. Leir Stage
Pillow Debut

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, held annually in Becket, Massachusetts, is America's longest-running international dance festival. Founded in 1933 by modern dance pioneer Ted Shawn, it has evolved into a renowned hub for dance, offering performances, workshops, and educational programs that celebrate a diverse array of dance styles and traditions.

In a special kick-off to Festival 2025, Prehistoric Body Theater—an experimental paleo-art dance theater collective from Central Java in Indonesia who create “deep-time animal dance” by fusing paleontology with Indonesian traditional dance—will make its U.S. debut in association with New York’s Asia Society with Ghosts of Hell Creek: Stone Garuda. This mesmerizing work eulogizes the raptors who perished in the Chicxulub asteroid impact 66 million years ago, while celebrating the survival of our earliest primate ancestors in a world born anew.

Praised as “an innovative form of global public outreach for paleontology” (Oxford University Press), the company fuses animal movement with traditional dance and experimental Javanese percussion. Co-created with Indigenous Indonesian performing artists, Prehistoric Body Theater collaborates with international scientists to craft performances informed by cutting-edge paleontology—uniting art, science, and a deep commitment to nature conservation.

Wednesday and Thursday, June 25-26 at 5:30pm | Henry J. Leir Stage
Pillow Debut

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, held annually in Becket, Massachusetts, is America's longest-running international dance festival. Founded in 1933 by modern dance pioneer Ted Shawn, it has evolved into a renowned hub for dance, offering performances, workshops, and educational programs that celebrate a diverse array of dance styles and traditions.

In a special kick-off to Festival 2025, Prehistoric Body Theater—an experimental paleo-art dance theater collective from Central Java in Indonesia who create “deep-time animal dance” by fusing paleontology with Indonesian traditional dance—will make its U.S. debut in association with New York’s Asia Society with Ghosts of Hell Creek: Stone Garuda. This mesmerizing work eulogizes the raptors who perished in the Chicxulub asteroid impact 66 million years ago, while celebrating the survival of our earliest primate ancestors in a world born anew.

Praised as “an innovative form of global public outreach for paleontology” (Oxford University Press), the company fuses animal movement with traditional dance and experimental Javanese percussion. Co-created with Indigenous Indonesian performing artists, Prehistoric Body Theater collaborates with international scientists to craft performances informed by cutting-edge paleontology—uniting art, science, and a deep commitment to nature conservation.

The premiere of Ghosts of Hell Creek, Prehistoric Body Theater's flagship performance, at the Indonesian Institute for the Arts Surakarta Large Theater, on September 25th, 2024.

The Pitch New Works projects were selected from a pool of 87 applications by ISPA’s Pitch New Works Committee. The committee was chaired by Hanako Yamaguchi, Independent Arts Consultant and former Director of Music Programming at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Also serving on the committee were Igor Lozada Rivera Melo, Director at Universidad de Guadalajara, Cultura UDG; Jochem Valkenburg, Programming Director of Music and Music Theatre at the Holland Festival; Meiyin Wang, Producing Director at the Perelman Performing Arts Center; and Fiona Winning, Head of Programming at the Sydney Opera House.

Delegates of the upcoming Manchester 2023 ISPA Congress can catch these 10 remarkable projects at the Pitch New Works session, Thursday, June 29, 2023 at The Bridgewater Hall. Immediately following the session, delegates will have an opportunity to meet the presenters at ISPA’s ProEx (Professional Exchange).

About ISPA: The International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) is a global association of 500 arts leaders from 60 regions, who come together with the shared goal of strengthening and developing the arts internationally. ISPA achieves this by building leadership ability, by recognizing and discussing field-wide trends and new developments, and by deepening global exchange through the arts. ISPA members include presenters, performing arts organizations, artist managers, competitions, funders, consultants and other professionals working in the performing arts. Founded in 1948 by Patrick Hayes, 2024 will mark ISPA’s 75th anniversary.

About Pitch New Works: ISPA's Pitch New Works Program provides a forum for creators and arts professionals to share and discover new performing arts projects. Twice a year, ten submissions are selected to be presented to hundreds of performing arts professionals at ISPA's Congresses.