Annual celebration of influential LGBTQ activists and creatives
World Arts and Cultures/Dance professor Kyle Abraham has created an evocative, interdisciplinary body of work. Born into hip-hop culture in the late 1970s and grounded in his artistic upbringing in classical cello, piano, and the visual arts, his goal is to delve into identity in relation to a personal history. His work entwines a sensual and provocative vocabulary with a strong emphasis on sound, human behavior and all things visual in an effort to create an avenue for personal investigation and exposing that on stage.
"For Kyle Abraham, the personal is always universal. His work–a synthesis of hip-hop, ballet, and contemporary dance that he calls "postmodern gumbo"–is painfully, blazingly relevant. His 2012 piece, Pavement, explored life and death in the Pittsburg neighborhood of his youth. In last year's Untitled America, he addressed the impact of America's prison complex on black families. And for Dearest Home, a 90-minute show that premiered in New York this past July, he took on love and mounring through the prism of his own wrenching dislocation following the loss of his mother and the end of a relationship. "Work that speaks to those experiences of isolation and longing helps audiences find a kind of commonality," he says. A 2013 MacArthur "Genius" Fellow, Abraham has had a busy 2017–a year he characterized as one of "realization and rejuvenation." Along with Dearest Home, his company Abraham.In.Motion, also premiered Drive for the 14th annual Fall for Dance Festival at New York City Center in October, and he is working on a new solo piece for 2018. "It's the first solo work I've made for myself in several years," he says. "I'm really excited to dive into it." "— Nov. 8, 2017
This article was originally published as part of the OUT100.
"For Kyle Abraham, the personal is always universal. His work–a synthesis of hip-hop, ballet, and contemporary dance that he calls "postmodern gumbo"–is painfully, blazingly relevant. His 2012 piece, Pavement, explored life and death in the Pittsburg neighborhood of his youth. In last year's Untitled America, he addressed the impact of America's prison complex on black families. And for Dearest Home, a 90-minute show that premiered in New York this past July, he took on love and mounring through the prism of his own wrenching dislocation following the loss of his mother and the end of a relationship. "Work that speaks to those experiences of isolation and longing helps audiences find a kind of commonality," he says. A 2013 MacArthur "Genius" Fellow, Abraham has had a busy 2017–a year he characterized as one of "realization and rejuvenation." Along with Dearest Home, his company Abraham.In.Motion, also premiered Drive for the 14th annual Fall for Dance Festival at New York City Center in October, and he is working on a new solo piece for 2018. "It's the first solo work I've made for myself in several years," he says. "I'm really excited to dive into it." "— Nov. 8, 2017
