Review: AN UNTITLED LOVE ---A.I.M BY KYLE ABRAHAM at Kennedy Center

Four years in the making, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham presented the hour-long dance piece entitled An Untitled Love but, although it may have been "untitled" it certainly encompassed many myriad moods, feelings and styles of dance while emphasizing the need for connection in an often-broken world with humor, subtle satire, compassion, and deft timing. Utilizing an exceptional ensemble of dancers and incorporating extremely compelling and continually surprising styles of choreography, music, lighting, and scenic design---this mesmerizing dance composition was constantly eclectic in presentation.

The running thread throughout this piece seemed to be the search for connection and intimacy with another and the set was designed with a couch in the downstage left area to show people casually picking up physical clues form one another that, eventually, lead into amazingly intricate and sensuously expressive dance movements. (In a much less complex way, the starting point of the work reminded me of the Girl in the Yellow Dress section of the Broadway musical Contact). The paradox of this amazing choreographic work by Artistic Director and Choreographer Kyle Abraham is that the intricacy and expressiveness required in the work is presented in an almost offhand style that is totally disarming and unique. Mr. Abraham's approach expresses the unpredictability and spontaneity of life in all its variety and vigor.

Obviously, ballet formal training was part of the dancers' training but very natural, loose, rangy, body movements with splayed bodies swiping the floor-- dancers sauntered on and off the stage to slow-motion and more abrupt dissolves. This dance piece often had the feel of a cinematic reel unspooling. At times, the piece felt alternately like a reverie, a euphoric state, a dream-fever, a hazy stoned suspension of time and a hallucinogenic state of consciousness. (The uniquely distinctive work is all the work of Mr. Abraham, but I see influences of Twyla Tharp and Alvin Ailey in the expressiveness of the choreography). Transitions were alternately fluid or static between each dance movement and this added to the immediacy of this piece.

Formal dance techniques are radically deconstructed and turned on their head (analogous to what playwright Annie Baker is exploring in the drama and Cassandra Wilson is exploring with jazz) in this perceptive dance composition and this approach frees this astonishing ensemble of dancers to immerse themselves in the satisfyingly surging array of music. The digital program credits D'Angelo and The Vanguard with the music and the result is a mix of funk, R & B, soul, jazz, pop, and rap. Sound Editor Sam Crawford-- I assume-should be cited as the mix of music was exciting and apt to each dance moment.

The vast array of the solos, couplings and larger group numbers in the production were performed by an ensemble of dancers that possessed an inexhaustible fount of energy and stamina. A heightened sense of physicality replete with graceful, lithe-limbed arm/wrist movements, leaps and turns was sustained throughout.

There was a true unified ensemble feel to this dance composition piece. As of the evening of my performance, the following superb dancers were listed in the digital program: Tamisha A. Guy, Associate Artist Dorchel Haqq, Associate Artist Logan Hernandez, Keerati Jinakunwiphat, Claude "CJ" Johnson, Catherine Kirk, Jae Neal, Donovan Reed, Martell Ruffin, and Gianna Theodore.

Lighting and Scenic Design by Dan Scully was a privilege to absorb. Constantly changing colors from a deep red to a purple hue lit the stage backdrop and the lights dimmed for deep focus when needed.

Visual art by Joe Buckingham was extremely effective. Visual projection portrayed graffiti-like marking, African American symbols, words, and equations that added a modern and relevant texture.

Costume Design by Karen Young and Kyle Abraham was full of sartorial touches that added to the mood of each dance movement.

Artistic Advisors Charlotte Brathwaite and Risa Steinberg must be commended as this dance performance composition was a living work of art.

An Untitled Love was a kaleidoscopic dance journey into human connection that effectively melded all elements to spur the imagination. Artistic Director Kyle Abraham and company have exceeded themselves.

Runnin Time: One Hour with no intermission.

An Untitled Love by A.I.M by Kyle Abraham was presented on Friday, April 29, 2022 at 8pm at the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater. The Kennedy Center is located at 2700 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20566. For information on upcoming events, click here.

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