Kyle Abraham's A.I.M. at Northrop

Photo by Steven Screiber

Kyle Abraham’s dance company A.I.M. was at the Northrop Auditorium in Minneapolis, Minnesota on February 27th for a student matinee performance. The interdisciplinary dance team draws on different styles to create something new, often using a collaboration of infused work from hip hop vocabulary, rave culture, and the dancers' unique backgrounds including Cunningham and Graham.


Artistic director and founder, Kyle Abraham, started as a solo exploration and has expanded his team over the last fifteen years. He is the winner of the Jacob’s Pillow, Doris Duke, and prestigious MacArthur “Genius” Awards. Abraham has been commissioned to create work on companies such as Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.

As the demand for Kyle’s work has grown, he has decided to take on outside work.  He's been inspired by several people, including choreographer Trisha Brown and her 1976 piece "Solo Olos." Silence is golden when you’re dealing with any large body of students and in this piece it couldn’t be more heart felt in a place like the Northrop. The silence and anticipation is too much for anyone. A lead dancer shouts commands like “reverse,” “branch,” and “spill” and dancers follow up with a snap of their fingers. A bag of Rice Krispies is a good comparison because what you hear for the duration of the number is adolescents happily snapping their fingers to engage in the dance number and break the ensuing tension. Palindrome is the technique used in “Solo Olos,”  a backwards and forwards sequence that never repeats.

In the vigil dance number Meditation: A Silent Prayer, the source inspiration comes from the violent and senseless murders against black bodies, particularly in police brutality that have been heightened in the media in the last ten years. The victims names are shared: Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner amongst others. The dancers’ movements are powerful and there is a moment where a prerecorded poem is played overhead by the poet Carrie Mae Weems. 'My hands are up officer,' the poem reads. The dancers in turn have their hands reaching out and the emotion is felt with lines like ‘The numbers tell the story, she was twenty five, he was a father, he was twenty-two, a brother...'

In a subsequent dance, the dancers perform to Reggie Wilkins’s electronic score, Drive, eyes are glued to the stage. Never will you see students so captivated to watch a performance. In the finale, three tubes of light illuminate the space and flicker like that of a lighting storm. Quiet Storm by Mobb Deep feat Lil Kim is the perfect song, everyone in the auditorium is bathed in brilliant light, students look behind them, some protecting their eyes with sheer amazement and delight. 


Northrop will have another show on Sat. Feb 29 at 7:30 pm.