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Amid a plethora of local holiday shows this month — including Christmas plays and musical events — it may be refreshing to see award-winning contemporary dance at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center this Saturday, Dec. 13.
In its fifth visit to the venue on the Cal State Long Beach campus, “A.I.M by Kyle Abraham” will showcase three dance works by choreographers Kyle Abraham and Jermaine Spivey that “elevate diverse artistic voices,” according to the Center.
The first, “In the act of undoing,” is a new piece by Spivey co-commissioned by the Center that explores “unity and diversity of movement” among dancers in collaboration.
“To animate the essence of what moves people, and elaborately demonstrate the rigor, unity and diversity of our movements when we all remain on task,” Spivey says of the work’s purpose. “Task is paramount, and at times should welcome discomfort.”
Abraham said in a recent interview that he loves to bring in choreographers like Spivey with different approaches than his own.
“Jermaine works with a lot of improvisational scoring,” Abraham said. “It’s interesting to see the dancers dive into that.”
“The Gettin’” by Abraham is the second piece in the program, a work for six dancers set to the music of Grammy Award-winning jazz artist Robert Glasper and his trio, who reimagine Max Roach’s avant-garde “We Insist! Freedom Now Suite.”
And the third dance, an excerpt of “Dearest Home” also by Abraham, is an intimate work that focuses “on love, longing and loss, and is a love letter to relationships, a meditation on memories, and ultimately, a source of healing,” according to the Center.
A.I.M stands for “Abraham in Motion,” the contemporary dance company Abraham founded nearly 20 years ago in 2016. Abraham received a MacArthur “genius grant” in 2013 and multiple dance awards since. He is also an endowed professor at USC’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance.
“Abraham’s work is galvanized by Black culture and what he calls a ‘postmodern gumbo’ of movement exploration,” the Center says. “Through A.I.M, Abraham elevates diverse artistic voices, using his own experiences to weave together music and dance.”
In October, Abraham choreographed a new work for groundbreaking Black ballerina Misty Copeland’s farewell performance at the American Ballet Theatre. And Harper’s Bazaar magazine featured A.I.M in its cover profile last spring, in which Abraham said he believes in hope right now.
“We are living in some very dark and scary times, but I have to find hope,” he said. “I have to be able to get out of bed in the morning and hope that there is something positive, not only that I can put forward in this world but that someone else will be open to receive.”
“A.I.M by Kyle Abraham” will perform at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, 6200 E. Atherton St., on Saturday, Dec. 13 at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $38.75 to $68.75 and can be purchased by calling the box office at 562-985-7000 or visiting CarpenterArts.org.