Kyle Abraham

Kyle Abraham

Kyle Abraham, professional dancer and choreographer, began his training at the Civic Light Opera Academy and the Creative and Performing Arts High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He continued his dance studies in New York, receiving a BFA from SUNY Purchase and an MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Over the past few years, Abraham has received tremendous accolades and awards for his dancing and choreography including a 2010 Bessie Award for Outstanding Performance in Dance for his work in The Radio Show along with a 2010 Princess Grace Award for Choreography, a BUILD grant and an individual artist fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts, a Jerome Foundation Travel and Study Grant, a Pennsylvania Council for the Arts Fellowship and 2009 was honored as one of Dance Magazine’s 25 To Watch.

Abraham was heralded by OUT Magazine as one of the “best and brightest creative talent to emerge in New York City in the age of Obama.” His choreography has been presented throughout the United States and abroad, most recently at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Danspace Project, Dance Theater Workshop, Bates Dance Festival, Harlem Stage, Fall for Dance Festival at New York's City Center, Montreal, Germany, Dublin’s Project Arts Center, The Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum located in Okinawa Japan and The Andy Warhol Museum in his hometown of Pittsburgh, PA.

As a performer, Abraham has worked with acclaimed modern dance companies including David Dorfman Dance, Burnt Sugar Dance Conduction Continuum, Nathan Trice/Rituals, Mimi Garrard Dance Theater, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Dance Alloy, The Kevin Wynn Collection and Attack Theatre. In addition to performing and developing new works for his company, Abraham.In.Motion, Abraham also teaches his unique approach to post-modern dance in various schools and studios throughout the United States.

Choreographic Fellow | February 6 – 16, 2012

Boyz N The Hood (working title)

While in residence, Abraham began developing Boyz N The Hood (working title). The work draws its inspiration from John Singelton's 1991 film of the same name and W.E.B Dubois classic essay, The Souls of Black Folk, and is set to a sound score that mixes Philippe Jaroussky’s operatic score, Carestini: The Story of a Castrato with the sounds of an urban city. Reimagined as a dance work, Boyz pays comedic homage to the bold Kris Kross/backward jeans and high top fade era in Hip-Hop while reflecting on the growths and losses of Pittsburgh's historically black neighborhoods, Homewood and the Hill District.

Abraham investigated movement vocabulary, and explored how the layers of film, dance and community may be integrated into the work. He met with Dr. Hernan Ramirez, Assistant Professor in FSU's Department of Sociology and Dr. Alisha Gaines, Assistant Professor in FSU's Department of English, to explore some of the themes in his work including race and minority relations. Additionally, collaborator and Educational Coordinator, Maritza Mosquera joined Abraham to brainstorm about the development of an educational program, which may tour in conjunction with the work. Abraham concluded his residency by sharing the material generated to date, including a section that will be performed at the Danspace Project's Parallels series March 22-24, 2012.

Collaborators in Residence: Matthew Baker, Rena Butler, Chavlar Monteiro, Jeremy Neal, Maleek Washington, Eric Williams [performers], Maritza Mosquera [educational coordinator] Slideshow photos by Chris Cameron and Al Hall