A.I.M. Announces Homecoming Week

Contemporary dance company, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, is pleased to announce the 2021 A.I.M Homecoming Week celebration, being held from October 11-15. Homecoming this year pays tribute to honorees who exemplify artistic distinction and innovative contemporary storytelling: Emmy Award-winning composer Kristopher Bowers and Codie Elaine Oliver & Tommy Oliver, Founders of Black Love Inc. & Confluential Films.

Through their own unique artistic media, choreographer Kyle Abraham and the honorees are storytellers who showcase the expressions of the Black experience who share stories that often go untold. Mr. Bowers and Mr. and Mrs. Oliver are being honored for the extraordinary ways they have reached people through their musical compositions and candid conversations about relationships respectively. Through the course of the pandemic, the notable honorees continue to make meaningful work and forge powerful connections with audiences, even as they've had to adapt their crafts and share their stories through new forms of media, networks, and communication.

In 2015, Mr. Bowers and Mr. Abraham collaborated on Absent Matter, a group work exploring hip-hop's fascination with posthumous acclaim, that embraces Oakland-based activist Alicia Garza's now infamous call to action, #BlackLivesMatter, and the rage and grief associated with its aspirations of change. Mr. Bowers and Mr. Abraham share a commitment to using their platforms to highlight, celebrate, and uplift Black voices and to create space to start conversations around change.

The Olivers created the OWN docu-series Black Love to change the narrative on how Black love is perceived and talked about and to highlight the beauty behind Black stories and Black life. There are parallels between their program and Kyle Abraham's newest evening-length work An Untitled Love, which pays homage to the complexities of self-love and Black love, and celebrates Black culture, family and community.

Featuring both virtual and in-person activities, A.I.M Homecoming Week will raise critical funds to support A.I.M's artists and the sustainability of the company. October 12 is virtual A.I.M Homecoming Night highlighting these incredible honorees and their contributions to their respective fields, along with never-before-seen, behind-the-scenes footage from A.I.M's four-week bubble residency in the winter of 2021. Program presenters will include Ashley Chea, Jason Moran, A.I.M dancers, and more. The virtual benefit is free of charge and attendees may RSVP here.

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