A.I.M by Kyle Abraham

The celebrated contemporary dance company, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, renowned for their captivating performances, consistent boundary-pushing, educational programming, community-based workshops across the globe and its work deeply rooted in Black culture, will bring two performances to Spa Little Theater for its Saratoga Performing Arts Center debut.

The program features a mix of repertoire that showcases the innovation and creativity of the company. Opening with the new quartet, “5 Minute Dance (You Drivin ‘?) set to the electronic music of the pioneering composer, Jlin, the dynamic work was created in collaboration with the Glorya Kaufman School of Dance at USC. Created in conversation with Merce Cunningham’s 1972 work, Landrover, Abraham’s MotorRover is a tender and abstract duet that is unadorned with no music or set, creating a wholly unique experience within the silence of the audience.  The program closes with If We Were a Love Song, a series of poetic vignettes that meld together Abraham’s movements and musicality with the stunning and silky voice of Nina Simone.

Of Artistic Director Kyle Abraham, Rebecca Bengal of Vogue wrote, “What Abraham brings … is an avant-garde aesthetic, an original and politically minded downtown sensibility that doesn’t distinguish between genres but freely draws on a vocabulary that is as much Merce and Martha as it is Eadweard Muybridge and Michael Jackson.”

Program

This program is approximately 90 minutes long inclusive of a 20-minute intermission.

KYLE ABRAHAM (Founder and Artistic Director, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham; He/Him/His) has premiered his work to international audiences and acclaim since 2006. Abraham has been profiled in Document Journal,Vanity Fair, Ebony, Harper’s Bazaar, Kinfolk, O Magazine, Paper, Surface, Vogue & Vogue UK, W Magazine, among many other publications. He is the proud recipient of a National Dance Critics Award for Choreography (2024 – Are You in Your Feelings / Alvin Ailey Dance Theater) Are You in Your Feelings,’ Dance Magazine Award (2022), Princess Grace Statue Award (2018), Doris Duke Award (2016), and MacArthur Fellowship (2013). In addition to performing and developing new works for his company, Abraham has been commissioned by a wide variety of dance companies, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The National Ballet of Cuba, New York City Ballet, Paul Taylor American Modern Dance, and The Royal Ballet. Along with Abraham’s latest world premiere of ‘Cassette Vol. 1’ in Hamburg, Germany, Abraham will also be premiering ‘Dear God, Make Me Beautiful’ at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City this coming December.

Abraham has led and curated several performance series including the Danspace Project (2024 / 50th anniversary season) and Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City (2023, 2022), among others). In 2020, Abraham was the first ever guest editor for Dance Magazine.

He serves as the Claude and Alfred Mann Endowed Professor in Dance at The University of Southern California (USC) Glorya Kaufman School of Dance (2021-). Abraham sits on the advisory board for Dance Magazine and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the inaugural Black Genius Brain Trust, and the inaugural cohort of the Dorchester Industries Experimental Design Lab, a partnership between the Prada Group, Theaster Gates Studio, Dorchester Industries, and Rebuild Foundation.

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JAMAAL BOWMAN (he/him) began his dance training at the age of 14 in Maryland, where he was born and raised. In 2021, he graduated from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a Director’s Scholar, under the direction of Donna Faye Burchfield. Over the years he has collaborated with Nora Chipaumire, Tommie Waheed-Evans, Maleek Washington, Helen Pickett, Fana Fraser, Jocelyn Cottencin, Nacera Belaza, and Sidra Bell. In November 2021, Bowman toured with Von Howard Project to Ecuador to perform in the International Living Arts Festival of Loja. Most recently, he has performed as a company member with Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers for their 2021-2022 season. His personal practices are centered around queer Black joy, theater, improvisation, and comedy. He hopes to reshape the future for queer Black people like him, to give them more opportunities to shine. Bowman joined A.I.M by Kyle Abraham in 2022.

AMARI FRAZIER (he/him) is a Chicago native and Chicago Academy for the Arts graduate. He earned his BFA in Dance from The Juilliard School, where he performed works by esteemed choreographers, including Sonya Tayeh, Ohad Naharin, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Spenser Theberge, and Jermaine Spivey. Frazier has attended summer programs at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Springboard Danse Montreal, and Nederlands Dance Theatre. He worked with Ballet Collective during the summer of 2021 and has continued collaborating with the company on various projects. Frazier’s choreographic skills have been showcased in several Juilliard performances, and he will premiere a new work in April 2023 for Juilliard’s Senior Production. Frazier joined A.I.M by Kyle Abraham in April 2023.

MYKIAH GOREE (he/him), a native of Houston, Texas, received his early dance training from Houston Ballet Academy and Kinder HSPVA under the direction of Melissa Bowman and Janie Carothers, respectively. He has attended summer programs with Ballet Austin, BodyTraffic, and Peridance. While at Juilliard, he has performed works by Tiler Peck, Rena Butler, Jamar Roberts, Ohad Nahrin, Trisha Brown, Camille A. Brown and Omar Román De Jesús. Mykiah’s choreographic work was selected for Juilliard’s Choreographers and Composers 2022, MOVE|NYC’s summer intensive, Juilliard’s Senior Production 2024 and Juilliard’s Choreographic Honors. He is a certified Pilates instructor and has served on the Juilliard Black Student Union board. Mykiah is very grateful to all who have built him into the human being and artist that he is today. Mykiah joined A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham in January 2024.

FAITH JOY MONDESIRE (she/her) is a Brooklyn-born dancer, model, and writer. She received her formal dance training at Fiorello H. Laguardia High School. She graduated from SUNY Purchase in 2016 with a BFA in Dance and BA in English Literature with a concentration in African American Studies. During her time at Purchase, Mondesire curated a thirty-page research paper on the topic of the Soul and its multifaceted layering in performance, literature, and choreography. She has completed summer programs at the Dance Theater of Harlem, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, and MOVE|NYC. Mondesire has had the opportunity to perform and work with renowned artists such as Joseph Hernandez, Sidra Bell, Kristen Foote, Melanie Gambino, Kyle Abraham, and Doug Varone. Her work has been featured in Dance Magazine, with her own story, “I’ll Never Forget My First Pair of Flesh Tone Tights.” Mondesire joined A.I.M by Kyle Abraham in April 2023.

WILLIAM OKAJIMA (he/him) Originally from Irvine, California, William Okajima’s love for music and dance originated from a young age, growing up in a household full of artists. Will’s extensive training began at Orange County School of the Arts, and supplemented his dance training at both Westside Dance Project and Dmitri Kulev Classical Ballet Academy. At just age 13, Will obtained his first professional dance role in Sia’s The Greatest music video, and fell in love with the commercial world.  Since, he continues to be a part of Los Angeles’ vibrant commercial dance scene, featuring in nationwide advertisements (Honda, Apple, Pull & Bear), as well as international campaigns. Most recently, Will traveled to Dubai to feature in the country’s latest tourism film. A recent graduate from the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, Will received a BFA in Dance under the guidance of individuals including Kyle Abraham, Bret Easterling, Jermaine Spivey, Jodie Gates and William Forsythe. At Kaufman, Will has performed featured roles in works by Jiří Kylián, Micaela Taylor, Tyce Diorio, Desmond Richardson, Dwight Rhoden and Hope Boykin. Will also received a minor in entrepreneurship through the USC Marshall School of Business. In doing so, Will hopes that his studies of the intersections between dance performance and personal branding will allow him to tackle the demands of the commercial and concert dance world with a uniquely informed academic perspective. Okajima joined A.I.M by Kyle Abraham in 2024.

DONOVAN REED (they/them), a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, began their dance training at the age of 16. Soon after, Reed attended college at The University of the Arts where they received their BFA in May of 2016. During their time in college, they participated as an artist in residence at Die Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt, Germany. In addition, Reed participated in an independent artist program where their training was extended with the Pennsylvania Ballet. Other studies include PHILADANCO!, Eleone Dance Theatre, and The Rock School for Dance Education. They have performed works by choreographers such as Sidra Bell, Regina Van Berkel, Sharon Eyal, Tommie Waheed-Evans, Beth Gill, Andrea Miller, Tania Isaac, Meredith Rainey, and Helen Simoneau. In 2024, Reed was selected as one of Dance Magazine’s “Top 25 to Watch”. Reed joined A.I.M by Kyle Abraham in 2018.

KETURAH STEPHEN (she/her), a Brooklyn native, began her dance journey at Restoration Youth Arts Academy, where she trained in modern, African and hip hop. She attended Brooklyn High School of the Arts, as well as The Ailey School. She is a graduate of the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase College. Stephen attended the MOVE (NYC) Young Professionals Program, led by Co-Directors and Co-Founders Chanel DaSilva and Nigel Campbell. Throughout the course of her training, she has worked with and performed works by Earl Mosley, Loni Landon, Roderick George, Trisha Brown, and Antonio Brown. Stephen appeared in the movie “In the Heights”, under the direction of Ebony Williams in 2019. Stephen joined A.I.M by Kyle Abraham in 2022.

OLIVIA WANG (she/her), originally from Queens, New York, is a first generation Chinese American artist. She has recently graduated with a BFA in Dance from the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase College. She has trained at The Ailey School, French Academie of Ballet, and was a part of the inaugural class of MOVE|NYC|. Olivia has had the opportunity to perform works by Keerati Jinakunwiphat, Norbert De La Cruz III, Martha Graham, Michiyaya, Nigel Campbell, Kyle Abraham, and Roderick George. Wang has attended summer programs at A.I.M, Martha Graham, MOVE|NYC|, and Hubbard Street. She is an Actors Equity and SAG-AFTRA member. Wang joined A.I.M by Kyle Abraham in 2024.

Guest Choreographer Biographies

PAUL SINGH (Guest Choreographer, Just Your Two Wrists), earned his BFA in dance from the University of Illinois. He has danced for Gerald Casel, Jane Comfort, Risa Jaroslow, Will Rawls, Douglas Dunn, Christopher Williams, Kathy Westwater, and Faye Driscoll, and was among the inaugural cast of Punchdrunk’s American debut of Sleep No More. Abroad, he danced in Peter Sellars’ production of The Indian Queen and for Peter Pleyer (with collaborators Meg Stuart, Sasha Waltz, and Jeremy Wade) in a large-scale improvisation work in Berlin. Singh has had his own work presented at the Judson Church, New York Live Arts, Joe’s Pub, Dixon Place, La Mama E.T.C, Center for Performance and Research, and Dock 11 (Berlin). In 2004, his solo piece Stutter was presented at the Kennedy Center. Singh has taught contact improvisation around the world, leading intensives and advanced workshops for teacher training and beginners. He teaches varied technique classes (partnering, floor work, contemporary technique, contact improvisation) for Movement Research, Sarah Lawrence College, and Juilliard.

Creative Team Biographies

REID AND HARRIET (Costume Designers, MotorRover) Harriet Jung and Reid Bartelme met in 2009 while pursuing fashion design degrees at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. They started designing collaboratively in 2011 and have focused their practice primarily on costuming dance. In 2015 they were commissioned by the Museum of Art and Design in New York to develop a costume-centric performance work and have since devised two performances at the Guggenheim Museum to shed light on collaborative practice in design and dance. Reid & Harriet Design has completed research fellowships at NYU Center for Ballet and the Arts and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. They continue designing costumes and sets for dance productions around the world while expanding the scope of their practice outside the theater.

JLIN (Composer, 5 Minute Dance You Drivin’?) is the recording alias of Jerrilynn Patton, an electronic music producer from Gary, Indiana. Initially associated with Chicago’s footwork scene, her music evolved far beyond that style, exploring unheard rhythms and placing her in a category of her own. Her debut album, 2015’s Dark Energy, was filled with twisted, volatile tracks that seemed far more concerned with venting frustration, anger, and depression than providing dancefloor fodder. The album was an immediate, unexpected success, causing her to quit her job as a steel mill worker and pursue music full-time. One of the most acclaimed experimental electronic artists of the 2010s, she has shared the stage or collaborated with artists such as Björk, Ben Frost, and William Basinski. Additionally, she has ventured into contemporary dance, composing the music for Wayne McGregor’s Autobiography, which premiered in 2017.

DAN SCULLY (Lighting Designer) is a New York-based lighting and projection designer. He has been the resident lighting designer for A.I.M by Kyle Abraham since its founding, including designs for the full-length evening works Pavement, Live! The Realest M.C., and the Bessie Award-winning The Radio Show. Recent dance work includes designs for the New York City Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, BODYTRAFFIC, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and Misty Copeland, among others. Theater and concert credits include Rocky (Broadway), Jedermann (Salzburger Festspeile), The Orchestra Rocks! (Carnegie Hall), and Peter and The Wolf (John Lithgow / Carnegie Hall). Regional: Trinity Repertory Company, Geva Theatre Center, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Cleveland Playhouse, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, and the Two River Theater Company. MFA NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

KAREN YOUNG (Costume Design, Just Your Two Wrists & If We Were Love Song) is a New York-based costume designer who has designed clothes for many of A.I.M by Kyle Abraham’s works including An Untitled Love, Drive, The Gettin’, INDY, Meditation: A Silent Prayer. Other recent work with Kyle Abraham includes costume design for his creations for the Royal Ballet, Alvin Ailey, and Paul Taylor. Young also recently designed Keerati Jinakunwiphat’s “Fortuitous Ash” for New York City Ballet as well as costumes for new works with the Martha Graham Dance Company, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Alejandro Cerrudo, Brian Brooks, Lucinda Childs, Pontus Lidberg, Troy Schumacher, Sonya Tayeh, Miami City Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Ballet Basel, Acosta Danza Cuba, and Malpaso Dance Company. karenyoungcostume.com

This engagement of A.I.M by Kyle Abraham is made possible in part through the ArtsCONNECT program of Mid Atlantic Arts with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

This residency is also made possible in part with funds from the NYS DanceForce, a partnership program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and additional support provided by the Skidmore College Dance Department.