ABRAHAM IN MOTION

MacArthur Fellow and Princess Grace Statue Award winner Kyle Abraham, celebrated choreographer and artistic director of A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, brings his company to the Vail Dance Festival for the first time. While Abraham has created new works for the Festival in recent seasons, this debut performance promises to showcase the groundbreaking artistry that has captivated audiences and critics worldwide.

The special one-night only Vail Dance Festival engagement of A.I.M will take place on Sunday, August 3, at the Vilar Performing Arts Center in Beaver Creek. The choreographer will have his works highlighted on the program including his ode to Nina Simone, If We Were a Love Song (2021), a collection of solos and duets set to some of the music legend’s most intimate songs, as well as MotorRover (2023), a duet in conversation with Merce Cunningham’s 1972 ensemble work, Landrover.

The evening will also include a special debut of a new work by Jermaine Spivey entitled In the act of undoing.

“It’s important to me to bring in new voices into our repertoire at A.I.M,” explains Abraham. “Doing so allows the dancers and audiences alike to experience the range of styles the company is capable of living in and dancing.”

Spivey, a Baltimore-born artist and Associate Choreographer for Nederlands Dans Theater, brings his world-premiere ensemble piece to A.I.M, drawing from his two decades of work with innovators like Crystal Pite, William Forsythe, and even pop icon Robyn. Known for his dynamic teaching and performing across Europe and North America, Spivey’s contribution underscores A.I.M’s commitment to fresh perspectives. “This is a demanding work for the performers,” said Spivey. “It requires unending collaboration as a means of revealing, loosening, broadening, reducing, strengthening, deepening, restructuring and interpreting. 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.”

In addition to the full company engagement at the Vilar, A.I.M will also be represented at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater with the presentation of Kyle Abraham’s Show Pony (2018) as part of the International Evenings of Dance program (see schedule for details).  The high-energy solo work was originally choreographed for dancer Alysia Johnson when she was graduating from The Juilliard School. Johnson later went on to dance for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and recently joined A.I.M where, in a full circle moment, she will now be performing the solo again. The work features music by American electronic music producer and composer Jlin, known for her innovative and genre-defying approach to rhythm and sound.

A.I.M by Kyle Abraham performs on Sunday, August 3 at 6:00pm. at the Vilar Performing Arts Center in Beaver Creek. Tickets are available at vaildance.org or by calling the Box Office at 970.845.TIXS (8497).