By JESSICA NEU
Pittsburgh native and internationally renowned choreographer Kyle Abraham celebrated the 20th anniversary of A.I.M by Kyle Abraham with a homecoming performance as part of the Pittsburgh Dance Council series at the Byham Theater. The dance company last performed in Pittsburgh in 2021. Last night’s show featured numbers that have never been performed in Pittsburgh, including “2×4,” as well as selected solos and duets from “If We Were a Love Song,” “Dearest Home,,” and “Show Pony.”
“2×4” features two baritone saxophone players and four dancers. Abraham’s signature style of choreography, which combines classical technique with contemporary and hip-hop dance, is on full display in this piece. The baritone sax sets a cool tone for company dancers to engage in partner work that is casual, colloquial, and connected. Elongated and controlled penches and arabesques punctuate this fluid number whose relaxed groove sets the tone for the evening.
The featured solos and duets from “If We Were a Love Song” continued to highlight the company’s artistry and nonverbal communicative powers. Performers Jayden Williams, Gianna Theodore, Mykiah Goree, Destin Morisset, William Okajima, and Faith Joy Mondesire approach their respective pieces with control, precision, and intentionality. Their turns, extensions, contortion, and transitions are grounded in bodily sophistication, complexity, strength, nuance, subtlety, and pristine musicality. Goree and Morisset’s duet is a standout selection, as their powerful virility pays a dynamic tribute to the late 19th and early 20th century, when men regularly danced together. The slinky, sexy vibe of these pieces flowed into intermission as “Excerpt from Dearest Home” delivered the loudest silence I have ever experienced to open the second act. Performers Destin Morisset and Keturah Stephen danced in pristine synchronization to the absence of music, but beautifully communicated sentiments of love, contention, loss, and pain. A gentle push, a sideways glance, the awareness of your body in space with how it moves alongside your partner, an argument, an embrace, a recoil. An entire conversation occurred without a single spoken word. As an audience member, I have never been more aware of my own silence. A peer’s cough felt deafening. An innocent comment from a child garnered uncertain laughter from other audience members. Morisset and Stephen were unwaivered by any extraneous variables as their focus and commitment to their craft made for the most memorable performance of the evening.
Show Pony, a solo number featuring Alysia Johnson, is a funky, high-energy hip-hop number complete with an iridescent gold costume, swift beats, spotlights, and staccato pop-and-lock choreography. The show concluded with the U.S. premiere of “Meditation Reprise.” This prolific group number is set to an audio recording of text written and performed by Carrie Mae Weems, along with visual artwork by Titus Kaphar. According to the company’s website, “Meditation Reprise” mourns and commemorates the lives of Black Americans who have been victims of Police brutality in the United States…and stands as an urgent call to combat injustice in the United States and around the world.” The music slowly fades up, spotlighting the dancers as contemporary dance movement punctuates the profound spoken word. Weems’ words ring through the air as she lists the ages of men and women killed by police brutality: 25, 22, 9, and so on. The ages of people who lost their lives too soon. They were mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, aunts, uncles, and cousins. This powerful, moving piece perfectly captures the essence of the social and political unrest currently plaguing America. Abraham captures, through movement, what many of us are unable to articulate in words.
Abraham showcases the power of nonverbal communication, the ability to protest through movement while still highlighting the talent, strength, and skill of each company dancer. A.I.M by Kyle Abraham is a poignant homecoming from the renowned visionary. His work, message, and artistry are welcome in his hometown any time.
For information on the upcoming 2026 / 2027 Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Pittsburgh Dance Council series visit: https://trustarts.org/pct_home/events/series/dance
Jessica Neu holds a PhD in Rhetoric and is part of the Communication Department at Carlow University.
Categories: Arts and Ideas, Reviews
That performance was extraordinary!