Kyle Abraham is the new face of American dance. A choreographer who loves to mix styles and genres, he presents himself to the public with a happy hybridization of African American vernacular dance and the high tradition of modern dance. In his works, personal history and identity search intertwine with the vibrant energy of hip hop and urban dance, grounded in solid contemporary technique.
Abraham has created several successful works throughout his explosive career for Abraham.In.Motion, a company based in New York for a decade, alongside commissions for renowned ensembles like the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and a unique project with Wendy Whelan, the principal dancer of the New York City Ballet, with whom Abraham performed a pas de deux.
In Pavement, he sketches a powerful portrait of street life marked by rival gangs and violent police. The soundtrack is a collage that incorporates jazz and baroque repertoire from Vivaldi and Bach, culminating in its most intense moment with Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten—an opera that mirrors the narrative premise of Abraham, where the protagonist also becomes a victim of circumstances and community.
Inspired by the adolescent memories of the famous film Boyz n the Hood and the classic American literature Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois, Kyle Abraham aims to revisit twenty years later the living conditions of Black America—not in Los Angeles as in the film, but in his native Pittsburgh. This is an America of African American suburbs still striving against discrimination and genocide, searching for a "winning lottery ticket" to achieve freedom.
