kyle abraham, courtesy u.s.a. today
That the MacArthur Genius Award-winning choreographer Kyle Abraham could bring his dance wares to any stage in Los Angeles — as he has in the past — is an understatement. We’ve seen him at UCLA; last year at The Soraya; and at The Wallis. This season, on Saturday September 30, it’s Long Beach. But it is not Abraham’s first rodeo at the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center — it’s his third. Abraham, who cares enough about expanding the reach of concert dance to underserved communities to write an Op-Ed on the subject in U.S.A. Today, has again selected The Carpenter Center’s stadium-seating house, where there are good sight lines for all. This is a cream-of-the-crop dance performance, and should not be missed. — a fantastic repertory program presented by a fantastic dance company of our era, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham.
One draw of Long Beach is the Carpenter Center Executive Director Megan Kline Crockett, who has been a fervent Abraham advocate, traveling and tracking the development of his ouevre nationwide. Abraham will serve his signature postmodern gumbo – a unique blend of modern dance styles ranging from ballet to hip hop, seasoned with human stories and social commentary, fueling a new movement in the dance world. Get thee to Long Beach for this rich program that includes four Southern California premieres:
- MotorRover, a duet by Abraham created in collaboration with the dancers of A.I.M in response to an excerpt from Merce Cunningham’s 1972 Landrover. Dance Critic Gia Kourlas in the New York Times calls it “both sly and sensitive as it melds the formality of Cunningham’s vocabulary — jumps that come out of nowhere, balances that test resoluteness and more — with everyday gestures.”
- 5 Minute Dance (You Drivin’?), choreographed by Abraham to music composed and arranged by Mercury Prize-nominated composer, Jlin, a frequent Abraham collaborator
- Rain, a legendary solo by Bebe Miller, a key Kyle Abraham influencer
- If We Were A Love Song, a dance exploration of love set to a soul-stirring Nina Simone soundtrack, that, writes Gia Kourlas, “steers its way somberly, though not exactly gently, through love and heartache as Simone’s voice seems to pour out of the dancers’ bodies.”
- world premiere of a new work by choreographer Paul Singh
A.I.M by Kyle Abraham | Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center | Sat Sept 30