Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Kyle Abraham’s casually striking AN UNTITLED LOVE beguiles as it chronicles Black love and community

• By drediman
• February 24, 2022
• No Comments

Last night at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Harvey Theater, choreographer Kyle Abraham and his dance company – now known as A.I.M by Kyle Abraham – presented the New York premiere of an evening length piece entitled An Untitled Love. For the second consecutive evening, the subject du jour was romantic love, here within the context of the Black community (the pervious night, I was at The Joyce Theater to catch the Israeli dance company L-E-V dance Chapter 3: The Brutal Journey of the Heart, Sharon Eyal’s ongoing exploration of love).

That Mr. Abraham has concocted an evening length work is in and of itself a cause for notice (the choreographer tends to stick to shorter creations). Set to a collection of songs by the soulful Grammy Award-winning R&B artist D’Angelo, An Untitled Love chronicles the love lives of five diverse couples. In doing so, it also celebrates Black culture and community and the joy and resiliency therein (there’s a brief interlude that reflects the community in trauma and mourning). As such, the piece registers as a sort of modern-day Dances at a Gathering. Although not as immediately striking as many of the Mr. Abraham’s other works (if you’ve seen his The Runaway for City Ballet, you’ll know what I mean), the work bares the hallmarks of what makes his aesthetic so distinctive – notably, there’s an overarching caressing quality to his choreography, which seems to exist within the music as opposed to set to it.

The first thing you’ll notice about An Untitled Love is how insistently casual it is. Often times, the dancers walk on and off the stage nonchalantly, and they even lovingly bicker with each other on occasion. It’s all the more beguiling, therefore, when the piece’s seemingly throwaway movements flower into voluptuous dance. In short, Mr. Abraham’s dancers are extraordinary – each is fully attuned to the choreographer’s aesthetic and dance as naturally as breathing – and it’s fun to see how much spotlight has been placed on their respective personalities.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

A.I.M by Kyle Abraham: AN UNTITLED LOVE
Dance
Brooklyn Academy of Music
1 hour (without an intermission)
Through February 26