Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Envisioning bold, new futures: Kyle Abraham’s DEAR LORD, MAKE ME BEAUTIFUL and Jamar Roberts’ AI-ANDALUS BLUES

• By drediman
• December 12, 2024
• No Comments

In dance news, this week unveiled a pair of new pieces by two important Black contemporary choreographers — Kyle Abraham and Jamar Roberts — as well as the 25th anniversary revival of a vital work by Ronald K. Brown. As always, read on for my thoughts.

DEAR LORD, MAKE ME BEAUTIFUL
Park Avenue Armory
Through December 14

First up is the world premiere of the Park Avenue Armory commission Dear Lord, Make Me Beautiful (RECOMMENDED), a full length dance piece by MacArthur Fellow Kyle Abraham (Abraham is also prominently featured in the piece as a performer). For his latest, the internationally in-demand American choreographer further broadens his aesthetic, transitioning away from the episodic “mix-tape” construction of much of his recent work to produce a surprisingly seamless dance that seemingly takes place in the liminal space between dream state and attainable utopia — an escape from the escalating wors of the world we live in (e.g., political realities, climate change, technological overload, etc.). Indeed, set to a new jazz-cum-classical score by new music ensemble YMusic (kudos to Sam Crawford’s perfectly balanced sound design), Abraham conjures a calmness that evokes a sort of stylized pastorale vision. Throughout, his fluid yet articulate movements respond organically to the music, often times residing within it so as to suggest a true co-authorship of the experience. In some key ways, Abraham’s work here calls to mind Shen Wei’s silky, calligraphic choreographic sensibility. As the work’s central dancer, Abraham gives a quietly impassioned performance that forms the nexus of the piece (he’s surrounded by a capable set of dancers, many of them culled from his own company A.I.M by Kyle Abraham). The dancers are garbed in Karen Young’s simple, elegantly flowing cream-colored pant costumes — worn by both genders — and they look striking against the austere yet cohesive designs by Cao Yuxi (JAMES) (visual design at large) and Dan Scully (lighting design).

ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER
New York City Center
In repertory through January 5

Then over at New York City Center, you’ll find Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in the midst of an ambitious fall/winter season, which has been designated to celebrate the life and legacy of Ailey’s former Artistic Director, the great Judith Jamison. One of the most anticipated works of this Ailey season is the world premiere of Jamar Roberts’ Al-Andalus Blues (RECOMMENDED), a fascinating, vividly-danced piece that conjures Afro-futurism by way of Spanish classicism, namely Miles Davis’s scrappy recording of Concerto de Aranjuez (Adagio). If Roberts — like Abraham, an important choreographer of depth and many facets — here creates more of a mood than a discernible statement, the work is nonetheless stylish and defiant, featuring the same fighting spirit that animated We the People, a forceful work (in my opinion, one of the choreographer’s finest dances to date) he created for the Martha Graham Company earlier this year. The program’s other performance of note was the 25th anniversary return of Ronald K. Brown’s enduring masterpiece Grace (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), a celebratory ode to Black pride. Integrating contemporary dance with West African forms — as well as a good dose of ballroom culture — the piece explodes off the stage with joy and exhilaration to spare. Suffice to say, the work proved to be an emphatic closer for the evening. The bill was also enriched by two short works — Alvin Ailey’s captivating solo A Song for You (the choreographer’s distinctively soulful style in full evidence) and Solo, Hans van Manen’s playful tour de force crowd-pleaser for three dancers. Throughout, the pieces were danced with the company’s trademark athleticism, drive, and swaggering attitude.