Kyle Abraham and his company, A.I.M, make their Northrop debut on Sat, Feb 29 in a program copresented by Walker Art Center. Here are Five Fast Facts to know about the company and the performance in advance.
- Abraham’s interest in dance started at age 16 after attending The Joffrey Ballet’s presentation of Billboards, an evening-length show inspired by and featuring the music of Prince.
- In 2018, Kyle Abraham was asked to create work for New York City Ballet’s 2018-19 season, making him NYCB’s first black choreographer in more than a decade, and his first work for a ballet company. The piece, The Runaway (New Abraham) featured music by Nico Muhly, James Blake, Jay-Z and Kanye West.
- Born into hip-hop culture in the late 1970s and grounded in Abraham’s artistic upbringing in classical cello, piano and visual arts, A.I.M’s goal is to delve into identity in relation to personal history. The work often comes from a very personal and honest place, integrating the diverse personal backgrounds of the company members.
- Abraham’s numerous honors include the 2012 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award, the Bessie Award for Outstanding Performance in Dance, and the 2018 Princess Grace Statue Award for Choreography. He was also a 2013 MacArthur Fellow and 2015 New York City Center Choreographer Fellow, and received the Doris Duke Artist Award in 2016.
- In October, Abraham premiered a solo titled Ash for American Ballet Theatre dancer Misty Copeland, who appeared at Northrop in Mar 2019.
