Because he has such stellar musical chops, choreographer Kyle Abraham will undoubtedly dig the allusion to Charlie Parker’s be-bop anthem “Now’s the Time.”
The title of Bird’s composition resonates like a call to action.
Abraham, like Parker, is very much an artist of his time.
Abraham’s swell dance company, Abraham.In.Motion, will perform this weekend at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica.
Parker composed “Now’s the Time” in 1945 when he and a posse of adventurous musicians were inventing bebop, a new jazz genre, an edgy, hopped-up, anxious-making sonic language. Music for the atomic age.
For the past decade since he burst onto the scene, Abraham has aspired to being such a bellwether artist. The real world draws his inspiration, not his fear. He puts personal and social issues onto the stage, heightening the pedestrian, the commonplace, in the way dance does so effectively. And Kyle himself is a great, great dancer, one of our best.
Abraham’s weekend program at the Broad Stage looks like this:
- “The Quiet Dance” to Bill Evans interpretation of Leonard Bernstein’s “Some Other Time”
- “Absent Matter” set to a hip-hop sampling
- “The Gettin’” inspired by Max Roach “We Insist! Freedom Now” suite
Abraham.In.Motion | The Broad Stage | May 5-6