Abraham Jonathan Wolken (July 12, 1949 – June 13, 2010) was one of the original dancers and a co-founder of Pilobolus dance company in 1971, which The New York Times in his obituary calls "one of the most popular modern-dance companies in the world".
In addition to playing in orchestras and on stages worldwide, recent alumni have won the Metropolitan Opera's National Finalist award, performed on Broadway, played in the Grammy orchestra, acted in films and TV series and joined professional dance companies like Limon, Pilobolus, and American Ballet Theatre.
The forcible discharge mechanism of Pilobolus is exploited by parasitic nematodes including lungworms in the genus Dictyocaulus.
Robby Barnett is one of the founders of the dance company Pilobolus.
Modern dance choreographers and companies including José Limón, Pearl Lang, Bella Lewitzky, Sophie Maslow, Alwin Nikolais, Merce Cunningham, Ruth Currier, Erick Hawkins, Paul Taylor, Alvin Ailey, Twyla Tharp, Eiko & Koma, Seán Curran, Maguy Marin, Pilobolus and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker have all given performances there.
He also trained with Pina Bausch in the Wuppertal Dance Company, Germany and with Alison Becker Chase of the Pilobolus Dance Company, and travelled through to Europe, Americas, Japan and Indonesia.
Together with Moses Pendleton, a fellow student in the Dartmouth dance class, Robby Barnett, and Lee Harris, Wolken formed the Pilobolus dance company, which was named for a fungus that shoots its spores as much as several feet away, having seen a demonstration from his father during his youth.