Kyle Abraham's Drive. (L to R): Tamisha Guy, Catherine Ellis Kirk, Donovan Reed, Keerati Jinakunwiphat, Marcella Lewis, Matthew Baker, Claude "CJ" Johnson, and (hidden) Jada Jenai Williams. Photo: Grace Kathryn Landefeld When I watch a dance that I’ve also seen a few years earlier, I perceive it differently. Maybe I hear it differently too. Has it changed? Maybe. Have I changed? Of course. So … [Read more...]
The Times Are Changing
Kyle Abraham's company, A.I.M., performs at the Joyce Theater. Kyle Abraham used to call his company Kyle Abraham/Abraham in Motion. Now it’s called A.I.M. Of course, if you want to visit the company’s website, you may find yourself at Associated International Management or Advanced Idea Mechanics, but I expect he knows that. The concise new name minimizes his position, as well as … [Read more...]
Home, Where the Heart Is
Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion at Jacob's Pillow, August 2 through 6 Kyle Abraham has always treated his own life and times as soil on which to build dances: his family, the Pittsburgh he grew up in, racism, gender bias, politics. Hip-hop introduced him to dancing; ballet, modern, and postmodern styles followed. Film and text clarified ideas. Yet his works have never seemed didactic—partly … [Read more...]
Dancing the Breaking Point
Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion premieres new works at New York Live Arts. You can’t really call Kyle Abraham’s rise to fame meteoric. He has been working persistently and imaginatively for around eight years. Yet few young choreographers have garnered as many awards, residencies, fellowships, and commissions as he has in the last five years. The works that Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion is … [Read more...]
Archived in the Blood
Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion presents Pavement at Jacob's Pillow, August 21-25 You walk down a street in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. No, you don’t walk, you saunter—loose-limbed; cocky; taking big, easy steps. You are a young black man, and this is a decades-old black neighborhood. Does your leisurely progress identify you as a power—a drug dealer, maybe? A gang leader? Or are you a … [Read more...]