Members of the Pilobolus Dance Theatre include Jun Kuribayashi, bottom left, a Lawrence High School and Kansas University graduate.

Last year, the Pilobolus Dance Theatre company wowed the nation with its performance at the Academy Awards.

The dancers performed shadow scenes behind a screen, depicting various movies from the year, including penguins for “March of the Penguins,” a boy chasing a VW bug for “Little Miss Sunshine” and snakes on a plane for, well, “Snakes on a Plane,” among others.

Jun Kuribayashi, in some ways, was too good to be at the Oscars. He’s a member of Pilobolus’ main touring company, which was booked elsewhere during the Academy Awards performance. Part-time performers handled the Oscar nod.

But, more than a year later, Kuribayashi is still living with the prominence the appearance brought to his dance troupe.

“Now, it’s, ‘You guys were at the Oscars,’ and that’s how they associate our company name,” Kuribayashi says. “They’re like, ‘Oh, you guys did the shadows.’ It’s a great thing. It’s definitely a way to get our foot in the door. If you’re in the dance world, you’d definitely know who Pilobolus is. But it definitely wasn’t a household name.”

Currently, Kuribayashi, a 1997 Lawrence High School graduate who later earned a dance degree from Kansas University, is performing in the lead troupe of one of the best-known dance companies in the United States.

His company will come to Lawrence for a performance at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Lied Center. It’s the first time Kuribayashi has appeared with his troupe since leaving Lawrence in 2004.

In addition to the Oscars, Pilobolus has recently done advertisements for Hyundai and Volkswagen, among others. But Kuribayashi says the shadow pieces his company has become known for isn’t representative of its performance works.

“Some people in the dance world think we’re selling out,” he says. “But for me, it’s like we’ve always been the black sheep. We crawled in the back door. We’re not your typical dance company. Our founders didn’t have any technical training. They were all athletes and people who studied science and literature from Dartmouth (College). Our repertoire, our movement, is completely different – our philosophy is completely different.”

Roundabout path

Kuribayashi came to a professional dance career in an unorthodox manner.

He was taking a self-described “hiatus” from college, working as a line cook for Set ’em Up Jack’s restaurant, when he found his true calling

He had learned capoeira, a Brazilian martial arts style. And he liked to incorporate that into break-dancing moves at Lawrence clubs.

One night, a young woman who saw him dancing asked him to do a demonstration at her world dance class.

When he did – at age 22 – the director of the dance program told him he should go to the university and be part of the University Dance Company. He did – and eventually a member of a visiting dance company told him he had the stuff to be a professional dancer.

Nearing graduation, Kuribayashi went to New York on a whim to audition for Pilobolus, which gets its name from a type of mushroom. He figured he had nothing to lose, so he went in relaxed, chatting up many of the tense professional-track dancers who were auditioning.

And, in the end, he got the part.

‘Ahead of the game’

Now, Kuribayashi is one of seven dancers in the main, traveling company of the Pilobolus Dance Theatre. They’re on the road seven or eight months a year.

Though he swam competitively in high school, at age 29 he says he’s in the best shape of his life. And, he says, the workouts involved with his company keep his body in shape, without much work outside rehearsals.

In some ways, Kuribayashi says, he’s learned some about his own body by working closely with others.

“I thought I knew my body very well,” he says. “It’s very interesting. I can touch my roommate, Andy, and know he’s having an off day, or is completely on, and we don’t have to talk at all. That’s what you learn in this process – we work so closely together.”

Patrick Suzeau, an associate professor of dance at KU, says that awareness of body made Kuribayashi a natural at dance even in his early 20s, though he had no formal training.

“In addition to a strong sense of shape and being flexible, he put the two together to being a great athlete and having physicality,” Suzeau says. “He was way ahead of the game, even though he didn’t have dance training.”

And once Kuribayashi found his connection with the Pilobolus Dance Theatre company, it was a perfect match, says Muriel Cohan, another KU associate dance professor.

“It’s a blessing – it’s the perfect place for him,” Cohan says. “It’s not balletic, it’s not anything that’s traditional. It’s another thing that makes it rather unique and exciting.”

Untapped potential

Kuribayashi, who is 29, says he isn’t sure how much longer he’ll stay with his company. Someday, he’d like to settle back in Kansas – both he and his wife have roots in the Sunflower State.

He’d love to someday teach dance in Kansas, ideally at KU. And he credits KU’s faculty for the success he’s had.

“They saw some potential in me that I didn’t even see,” he says.

For now, though, he’s excited to dance for a company that appeals to a broad audience.

“I think we have a saying – ‘We’re a dance company for people who like dance and people who don’t,'” he says.

And, at least for this week, he’s happy to bring that back to Lawrence.

“I’m really, really excited to dance for my hometown,” he says. “I definitely miss Lawrence. I’ve been all around the world, but there’s no place like Lawrence.”