Northrop and Walker Art Center Present
A.I.M by Kyle Abraham
Past event
Oct 14, 2022
Captioning
Requiem: Fire in the Air of the Earth
Visionary Choreographer and MacArthur Fellow Kyle Abraham and pioneering producer/electronic music composer Jlin have come together to create a reimagining of Mozart’s Requiem in D minor through abstracted themes of afterlife, reincarnation, mythology, and folklore. In collaboration with costume designer Giles Deacon, and lighting and set designer Dan Scully, ten dancers from Abraham’s company—A.I.M by Kyle Abraham—take the stage to the music of Jlin, who has transformed Mozart’s score into an electronic opus that memorializes ritual and rebirth.
“In Requiem: Fire in the Air of the Earth A.I.M by Kyle Abraham offers a rousing, often deeply moving meditation on death and rebirth shaped by Black culture.” —Culture Whisper
“One the most consistently excellent troupes working today.” —The New York Times
"Abraham’s creative range is too wide and too buoyant for him to feel constrained by the role of angry black choreographer. His dances may be political but they are also aspirational, complex and upbeat." —The Guardian
The content below derives from the Northrop Across Campus Program that supports Northrop's mission towards intersections between performing arts and education for the benefit of all participants now and for generations to come.
Find ways to make thematic connections to these suggested topics:
Take a deeper dive with these resources that provide additional information about the performers, the history of the artform, and the artistic process.
A.I.M by Kyle Abraham – Company website
Washington Post – How Netflix helped Kyle Abraham create his new dance – Find at the U of M Library
RollingStone – The Innovator: How Jlin is Altering Dance Music’s DNA
Wallpaper – Couture in motion: Maria Grazia Chiuri and Giles Deacon design for dance
Vanity Fair – Kyle Abraham on Transcending Time and Finding Lightness in Requiem
Start a conversation about the performance, or encourage reflection, using these questions as inspiration.
The mission of A.I.M by Kyle Abraham is to create a body of dance-based work that is galvanized by Black culture and history.
In Requiem: Fire in the Air of the Earth, Choreographer Kyle Abraham, and pioneering producer, composer, and EDM artist Jlin have come together to create a new work exploring death, folklore, and reincarnation, through a reimagining of Mozart’s Requiem in D minor. Ten dancers from Abraham’s company join Jlin, who transforms Mozart’s music into an electronic opus that memorializes ritual, mourning, and rebirth.
In an interview with TheWashington Post, Kyle Abraham says, “transitions are the heartbeat of dance-making. That’s where a lot of purpose comes in. It’s not putting your hand on someone, but it’s the space between you and that person.”
The costumes were designed by London-based couture designer Giles Deacon whose “signature use of volume, color and print and his strong sense of the theatrical all feature in his costumes for Requiem,” according to an article from the architecture and design magazineWallpaper.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.