Dancer-choreographer Kyle Abraham and his company Abraham.In.Motion bring two evenings of contemporary dance to the Broad Stage this weekend, featuring the California premieres of THE QUIET DANCE, and ABSENT MATTER (with music composed and arranged by Kris Bowers and Otis Brown III). There’s also GREY, a solo for company dancer Marcella Lewis, and the Max Roach-inspired THE GETTIN’.

A MacArthur Fellow—and recipient of the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award, the Doris Duke Artist Award, and a Bessie—Abraham was the resident choreographer at New York’s City Center in 2015. Called the “best and brightest creative talent to emerge in New York City in the age of Obama” (Out magazine), Abraham’s work has brought local audiences to its feet at Royce Hall (When the Wolves Came In, 2015), and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, when the Ailey company danced Abraham’s Untitled America earlier this year.

In September 2016, Abraham joined the faculty of UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance.

“I learned a lot from [choreographer and Merce Cunningham dancer] Neil Greenberg. He used to talk about enactment versus performance. And I’ve always been more interested in the enactment—something that you’re just walking in upon and just happen to see…. It makes the work more personal.” — Kyle Abraham*

KYLE ABRAHAM—THE QUIET DANCE, GREY, ABSENT MATTER, THE GETTIN’

Friday and Saturday, May 5 and 6 at 7:30.

THE BROAD STAGE, 1310 11th Street, Santa Monica

thebroadstage.org/kyleabraham

abrahaminmotion.org

*Lewis Segal, “A ‘club kid’ dances to a mix of styles,” Los Angeles Times, May 3, 2017.

Catherine Ellis Kirk in The Gettin’
Photograph by Tim Barden
Image credit: A.I.M (Abraham.In.Motion)