Did You Know? A.I.M by Kyle Abraham

September 29, 2022
A.I.M by Kyle Abraham

Macarthur Fellow, choreographer, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native Kyle Abraham and pioneering producer and composer Jlin have come together to create a new work titled  Requiem: Fire in the Air of the Earth, a reimagining of Mozart’s Requiem in D minor transformed into an electronic opus that memorializes abstracted themes of ritual, mourning, and rebirth. In anticipation of the upcoming performance at Northrop on Oct 14, check out these fun facts about the artists and program.

 

Top photo by Peter Honnemann

A man and woman touch foreheads, her arm touches his head, his arm around her waist

Instead of taking the studio to Zoom as many dance companies did at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Abraham took a different approach—working on An Untitled Love by instead holding conversations surrounding movies and TV shows that featured Black characters and stories. This helped his dancers embody their characters and avoid stereotypes. Abraham received a 2022 Bessie Award nomination for the work.

Kyle Abraham

Abraham currently sits on the advisory board for Dance Magazine and the artist advisory board for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. He was recently announced as a 2022 Dance Magazine Award Honoree, and in 2020, was selected to be Dance Magazine’s first-ever Guest Editor.

White words on a black background - Black Lives Matter A.I.M for Change

In response to the continued and heightened war on Black people in this country, the dancers of A.I.M have come together to create A.I.MforChange—an initiative that seeks to share a multitude of resources that support and advocate for the betterment of the Black community.

Off the stage, Abraham choreographed the music video for Sufjan Stevens’ Sugar (2020), the feature-length film The Book of Henry (2016) for acclaimed director Colin Trevorrow, and early in his career served as a choreographic contributor for Beyonce’s 2013 British Vogue cover shoot.

Jlin

Growing up in Gary, IN, just 20 miles from downtown Chicago, Jlin is now one of the most prominent female producers of the current generation. While music has always been a part of her life, thanks to her parents, she also worked as a steel mill worker in her hometown.

Handwritten sheet music

Mozart’s Requiem in D minor was left incomplete at his death in 1791. Until the late 20th century, the work was most often heard as completed by Mozart’s student Franz Xaver Süssmayr. Later completions have since been offered.