Special Kyle Abraham dance performance added to Edges of Ailey schedule

The Whitney Museum of American Art announces the addition of a newly commissioned dance performance by choreographer Kyle Abraham to its suite of performances accompanying the landmark exhibition Edges of Ailey.

Presented in the Museum’s theater on January 3–5, 2025, If We Were a Love Song is a series of poetic vignettes created by Kyle Abraham in collaboration with contemporary dance company A.I.M and set to some of Nina Simone’s most intimate songs. The atmosphere of this work melds the intricate qualities of Abraham’s movements and musicality with Simone’s iconic silky voice. Comprised primarily of solos and duets, with versions created for both stage and screen, the work unfolds like a series of living portraits, deepening our reflections on community, love, and one’s self.

This special performance is part of a robust program of over 90 live dance performances, classes, and engaging talks offered in conjunction with Edges of Ailey, the first large-scale museum exhibition to celebrate the life, dances, influences, adjacencies, and enduring legacy of visionary artist and choreographer Alvin Ailey (b. 1931, Rogers, TX; d. 1989, New York, NY). This series of programs accompanies the exhibition’s in-gallery component, which includes works by more than 80 artists and never-before-seen archival materials. The performance series is inspired, motivated, and organized to reflect Ailey’s commitment to building a platform for Black modern dancers and choreographers, and gives visitors the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the full scope of Ailey’s world and legacy in an intimate setting.

A.I.M by Kyle Abraham: If We Were a Love Song
Dates:
January 3, 4 pm and 7 pm
January 4, 1 pm and 4 pm
January 5, 1 pm
Location: Floor 3, Theater
Event Link: https://whitney.org/events/aim-kyle-abraham

Collaborators
Choreography: Kyle Abraham in collaboration with A.I.M
Music: Nina Simone
Costume Design: Kyle Abraham, Karen Young
Lighting Design: Dan Scully
Company: Donovan Reed, Amari Frazier, Mykiah Goree, Alysia Johnson, Olivia Wang, Faith Joy Mondesire, Katurah Stephen, Jamaal Bowman, Gianna Teodore, William Okajima, Morgan Olschewske
Kyle Abraham (he/him) is Founder and Artistic Director of A.I.M by Kyle Abraham. He has premiered his work to international audiences and acclaim since 2006. Abraham has been profiled in Document Journal, Vanity Fair, Ebony, Harper’s Bazaar, Kinfolk, O Magazine, Paper, Surface, Vogue, and W Magazine, among many other publications. He is the recipient of the 2024 National Dance Critics Award for Choreography (Are You in Your Feelings / Alvin Ailey Dance Theater), Dance Magazine Award (2022), Princess Grace Statue Award (2018), Doris Duke Award (2016), and MacArthur Fellowship (2013). In addition to performing and developing new works for his company, Abraham has been commissioned by a wide variety of dance companies, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The National Ballet of Cuba, New York City Ballet, Paul Taylor American Modern Dance, and The Royal Ballet. Along with Abraham’s latest world premiere of Cassette Vol. 1 in Hamburg, Germany, Abraham recently premiered Dear Lord, Make Me Beautiful at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City.

Abraham has led and curated several performance series, including Danspace Project’s fiftieth anniversary season in 2024 and Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City (2022 and 2023), among others. In 2020, Abraham was the first-ever guest editor for Dance Magazine.

He serves as the Claude and Alfred Mann Endowed Professor in Dance at The University of Southern California (USC) Glorya Kaufman School of Dance (2021–). Abraham sits on the advisory board for Dance Magazine and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Black Genius Brain Trust, and the inaugural cohort of the Dorchester Industries Experimental Design Lab, a partnership between the Prada Group, Theaster Gates Studio, Dorchester Industries, and Rebuild Foundation.

About A.I.M
Contemporary dance company A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, considered “one of the most consistently excellent troupes working today” (The New York Times), provides multifaceted performances, educational programming, and community-based workshops across the globe. Led by acclaimed choreographer and Artistic Director Kyle Abraham’s innovative vision, the work is galvanized by Black culture and history, features a rich tapestry of Black and queer stories, and is grounded in a conglomeration of unique perspectives described by Abraham as a “post-modern gumbo” of movement exploration.

A.I.M is one of the most active touring dance companies in the United States, with an audience base as diverse as A.I.M’s movement vocabulary, drawing inspiration from a multitude of sources and dance styles. Since A.I.M’s founding in 2006, Abraham has created over thirty original works for and with the company. To expand its repertoire and offer a breadth of dance work to audiences, A.I.M commissions new works and performs existing works by outside choreographers, such as Trisha Brown, Bebe Miller, Andrea Miller, Doug Varone, Paul Singh, and A.I.M alums Rena Butler, Maleek Washington, and Keerati Jinakunwiphat.

Abraham’s unique vision and illumination of poignant and relevant issues set him apart from his generation of choreographers as a leading creative force in dance. A.I.M extends this vision and amplifies surrounding artistic voices to share movement and community-based work with audiences around the world.

Source: Whitney Museum of American Art