Gifted dance artist Kyle Abraham, whose “The Radio Show” just won a Bessie Award, and who I immensely enjoyed meeting at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in August, is my homeboy from Pittsburgh.
Never mind that I’m a good twenty years older than Kyle — a full generation. He and I share a few Pittsbuggian, er … Pittsburghian pleasures. One is dance. I started to dance in my home town, so apparently did he.
The second is local radio. Kyle’s award-winning work was inspired by longtime r&b radio station WAMO going off the air. I grew up listening to seventies soul music on WAMO.
Kyle interweaves this loss for the community with his own personal loss — watching his aging father, a victim of Alzheimer’s disease, lose his verbal capacity.
I love the specificity of Kyle’s dance content, and appreciate his direct articulation of what the work is all about. This is ridiculously rare in the dance world.
Have a look at the luscious, silken movement language of Pittsburgher Kyle Abraham. Characteristic of our home town, this guy is for real. Another thing you’ll see in this video is really good dancers.
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photo credit: Ian Douglas