Kyle Abraham / Photo courtesy of John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Recently relocated to the faculty at UCLA’s World Arts and Culture/Dance Department, 2013 MacArthur Fellow Kyle Abraham is bringing his award-winning New York-based dance company, Abraham.In.Motion to The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage this weekend for only two shows, Friday and Saturday, May 5 and 6, at 7:30 p.m.
Featuring the California premieres of “The Quiet Dance” (2011) and “Absent Matter” (2015), along with “The Gettin’” (2014), the evening will provide local audiences with a brief history of our new neighbor — the 2016 Doris Duke Artist Award recipient and the 2015 City Center Choreographer in Residence. These are only some of the honors and citations Abraham has earned.
Accompanied by Leonard Bernstein’s “Some Other Time,” “The Quiet Dance” is described in promotional materials as “an introspective, suspenseful 12-minute quintet … [where] dancers and movement contrast and connect quietly but expressively.”
“Through the lens of those who feel unacknowledged or without value,” the septet “Absent Matter” traces hip-hop’s lineage in an “abstracted dialogue about race in America.” Performed and choreographed by the company director and his fellow virtuosic dancers, the work “explores death and violence in urban communities throughout the U.S.” A timely topic, to be sure.
Inspired by jazz legend Max Roach’s seminal 1960 album, “We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite,” Abraham’s “The Gettin’” was created during the dance maker’s 2012 tenure as a Resident Commissioned Artist at New York Live Arts. Set to composer Robert Glasper’s interpretation of the Roach classic, this sextet asks the same question the late drummer raised: What does it really mean to be free?
How fortunate for us to welcome another creative adventurer to our Angeleno midst! And what a great opportunity to see some of his history in art-making performed by those who understand his voice the best, his own company.
—Benn Widdey, Culture Spot LA
LOCATION: The Broad Stage is located at 1310 11th St., Santa Monica 90401. Parking is free.
Tickets: $45-$105 and can be purchased at https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/10090986
INFORMATION: https://www.thebroadstage.org/kyleabraham