Kyle Abraham employs a narrative behind his choreography and performances surrounding the culture and influence of black America. The history of African-american dance is more in depth that what most would know. According to the article, “History of Black Dance: 20th-Century Black American Dance”, the origin of African-american dance began in Harlem and slowly incorporated itself into American dance as a whole.
However, this process was not easily and there were several figures that proved to be influential. For example, Arthur Mitchell introduced
blacks to the ballet scene, which was unheard of during the 50s and 60s as many did not believe that black Americans were not appropriate for ballet. This battle for privilege and equal treatment in the arts is extended by Kyle Abraham’s choreographic work.
In the article “Choreographer Kyle Abraham Discusses ‘The Watershed’ and ‘When the Wolves Came In'”, Abraham mentions the influence of black American culture and its influence on his choreography. For example, his piece “Watershed” was inspired by the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.
A teaser video showing a excerpts from some of Abraham’s pieces also provides some sort of insight as to how he portrays his narrative. The movement of each dancer is unique to their own style, but even more interestingly, each performer reacts to each other. Therefore, they are not completely in sync, but each of them moves in such an emotionally charged way it feels as though its intentional, to show how emotions and reaction vary across ethnic groups and between people. The movement ranges from excited and eccentric, to rigid and thoughtful, evoking different emotions of anger, excitement, fear, and sorrow. I never watched choreography that made me feel as though I was watching a history or story of some kind. However, Abraham evokes a stronger effort to see what he meant by each movement. The aesthetic does not seem to be the core of the performance, which I truly appreciate. It makes the performance multi-dimensional, and keeps the viewer attentive for what Abraham wants to portray.
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