Kyle Abraham


Kyle Abraham is an American choreographer. He began dancing when he was young at the Civic Light Opera Academy and the Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He received BFA from SUNY Purchase and an MFA from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Prior to starting his company A.I.M, he performed with a number of companies, including David Dorfman Dance, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, The Kevin Wynn Collective, Nathan Trice/Rituals, Dance Alloy and Attack Theatre.

Critical acclaim

In 2009, Abraham was listed in Dance Magazine′s "25 to Watch" where he was described as, "equal parts power and grace." In 2010, he was awarded a Bessie Award for his piece The Radio Show. Critic Wendy Perron has described him as "sensual, thoughtful, wild, stuttering", commenting that he was "burning a hole through that tiny space" with regard to his "Heartbreaks and Homies" evening of dance at Joe's Pub. Abraham's work The Runaway for the New York City Ballet’s 2018 Fall Fashion Gala was recognized as a “Best Dance of 2018” by The New York Times.

Works and career milestones

Abraham established his company A.I.M in 2006 with its first major work, Fading into Something Tangible, premiering in Pittsburgh. Abraham creates work for his company that draws from his personal experiences; often exploring themes of adversity, emotion and the relationship between music and dance.
In Abraham's The Radio Show, he "delves into identity and personal history....Creating an abstract narrative around the loss of communication, he investigates the effects of the abrupt discontinuation of a radio station on a community and the lingering effects of Alzheimer's and aphasia on a family. Abraham mixes recordings of classic soul and hip-hop with contemporary classical compositions to create an eclectic score that evokes fond memories and a passion for what is lost."
Abraham's other works include A Ramp to Paradise, Op. 1, Live! The Realest MC, and Pavement. A Ramp to Paradise, choreographed by Kyle Abraham and commissioned by THPAC, is about a true story by Alex Smith that describes the history of the black gay underground club called Paradise Garage. This club was the "it" place in the New York City 1970s and '80s dance world. Op. 1 is a performance inspired by photographer Eadweard Muybridge's art. Live! The Realest MC is a reenactment of Walt Disney's Pinocchio in an urban environment. In consists of a journey to find "realness" and includes hip hop karaoke. Pavement, premiered at Harlem Stage in November 2012, is inspired by the 1991 film Boyz n the Hood. It includes a wide variety of music, ranging from Bach to Sam Cooke, to express the themes of violence, love, and pain in Pavement. Seen from the perspective of a group of friends struggling to stay together while their community is tearing apart, critics were struck by this piece, Andrew Boynton of The New Yorker saying: "Pavement is a hard, unforgiving thing, but for some people it's also home."
Abraham was the 2012-14 Resident Commissioned Artist at New York Live Arts, and created two new works for the Live Arts stage. The Watershed premiered at New York Live Arts on September 23, 2014 with scenic design by visual artist Glenn Ligon and a score ranging from a contemporary cello suite to Otis Redding. The second work developed at Live Arts, When the Wolves Came In premiered on October 25, 2014, also with scenic design by Glenn Ligon and featuring music from We Insist! by Max Roach as well as an original composition by Robert Glasper.
In addition to creating work for his company, Abraham has also been commissioned by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and New York City Ballet for new works. Another Night, commissioned for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, premiered at New York's City Center in December 2012. Of this piece, Rebecca Bengal of Vogue writes: "What Abraham brings to Ailey is an avant-garde aesthetic, an original and politically minded downtown sensibility that doesn't distinguish between genres but freely draws on a vocabulary that is as much Merce and Martha as it is Eadweard Muybridge and Michael Jackson." Untitled America, also commissioned for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, is a 3-part work which premiered in 2016. The Runaway, for New York City Ballet, premiered at the 2018 Fall Fashion Gala, and was recognized as "Best Dance of 2018" by the New York Times.
Abraham collaborated with New York City Ballet principal dancer Wendy Whelan to create a duet entitled The Serpent and the Smoke that premiered at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in 2013. Abraham has choreographed for film as well, including the 2017 feature-length film The Book of Henry directed by Colin Trevorrow. Abraham is also visiting professor in residence at UCLA.
INDY, a 2018 work commissioned by the Joyce Theater, was the first full-length solo choreographed and performed by Abraham in nearly ten years. The dance features original music by Jerome Begin and visual art by Abigail DeVille.
Abraham's choreography has been presented around the United States at venues such as Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Joyce Theater, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Dance Theater Workshop, Bates Dance Festival, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Fall for Dance Festival at New York's City Center, Lincoln Center, South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center, On The Boards, Portland's Time Based Arts Festival, REDCAT, Philly Live Arts, Danspace Project, The Andy Warhol Museum, and the Harlem Stage. Outside the United States, AIM and Abraham have performed ar The Okinawa Prefectural Museum, Théâtre de la Ville, Maison de la Dance, Project Arts Centre, Springboard Danse Montreal, and the Internationales Solo-Tanz-Theater Festival, as well as venues Jordan and Ecuador.

Awards and recognition