Tag: A.I.M BY KYLE ABRAHAM

‘And as a Black gay teenager in the 1990s, I saw the possibility for a future in which Black men were leading companies and talking openly about love, race and queer identity — without shock value but rather as a way to share and show a commonality of love and loss.’ Read the full article here.

‘No performance should look and feel the exact same way every time because part of the performance comes from the audience, and the audience is different every night. A moment that might have seemed comedic to one audience may seem offensive to another, or maybe cerebral to a different group. So you can’t perform anticipating…

“Kyle is a black man,” says A.I.M dancer Catherine Ellis Kirk. “He speaks to and for a community.” Kirk, now in her eighth year with the company, was speaking with nearly 20 members of App State’s Black Student Association about MacArthur ‘Genius’ Grant award winner Kyle Abraham, a Pittsburgh-born choreographer whose acclaimed dance company A.I.M…

There’s plenty of assertiveness in the high-octane “Drive”—and plenty of sound. To urgent percussion and an insistent voice repeating, “Where’s your drive?” (Theo Parrish’s “Drive”), eight dancers scramble with powerhouse leg swings, sharp isolations, slashing arms. One minute, they’re doing unison pirouettes, the next owning the stage in dance-battle solos.’ Read the full review here.

‘Abraham readily admits the origins of his dance career:  the club world of his teen years growing up in Pittsburgh. (He is perhaps the art world’s most prominent Pittsburgher since Andy Warhol.) Many dancers pursue their passion in rebellion. But for Abraham, it was different. “My parents were super supportive. My mother even got me…

‘One of the great joys of my work as a dance producer is the time I spend talking with artists about their creative aspirations. It’s not always obvious how these discussions translate into presentations, nor is it always possible to make that happen, but the conversations are invariably insightful. I feel fortunate to have had…

‘Mr. Abraham, in his premiere, “Only the Lonely,” set to songs sung by Shirley Horn, showed how he can look at dancers — just as he did with Ms. Copeland in early October at the Fall for Dance Festival — and not just drop them into his choreographic vision, but also create an environment that…

‘Big Rings conveys the liveliness of the basketball court. Choreographed by company member Jinakunwiphat, it energizes with unbridled athleticism. Seven dancers in sweats and tank tops, their names printed on the back, stomp, clap, and throw their limbs, effortlessly moving in and out of the floor. To Quad City DJ’s “Space Jam,” Jae Neal gallops across the stage, amping…

‘On opening night, October 15, Kyle Abraham, Artistic Director, presented six works, including, for one night only, Ash, a solo for American Ballet Theatre principal ballerina, Misty Copeland.’  Read the full review here.