15 Aug Watch videos 1-3 and read the article about “Untitled Love” and answer the questions at the bottom of the assignment.
Kyle Abraham and A.I.M (Abraham in Motion)
A. Learn about Kyle:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kyle-Abraham (Links to an external site.).
B. Watch videos 1-3 and read the article about “Untitled Love” and answer the questions at the bottom of the assignment. 15pts
1. The Radio Show
https://vimeo.com/10347636 (Links to an external site.)
The Radio Show creates an abstract narrative around the loss of communication, investigating the effects of the abrupt discontinuation of a radio station on a community and the lingering effects of Alzheimer’s and aphasia on a family.
Broken up into various shorter works that blend my fondest memories of driving with my family and listening to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s radio station Hot 106.7FM WAMO and its sister station AM 860. On September 8, 2009, WAMO, the only urban radio station in Pittsburgh sadly, went off-air.
With the recent turmoil surrounding the death of 16 year old Derrion Albert in Chicago discussed over the airwaves of radio stations around the world, I wondered how aware listeners were to the goings on in other urban communities around the country now that its voice had been taken away.
Without Black Radio, where is the audible voice of the black community? Radio was so prevalent during times of strife in the past. Where is its place today? Is radio fading away? Are we still listening?
Reinterpreting those questions into the context of my father’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s ten years ago and his more recent aphasia-afflicted conditions where these losses of voice find a common thread.
2. “Absent Matter”
https://vimeo.com/199036133 (Links to an external site.)
“ABSENT MATTER (2015), explores the perceived posthumous grandeur of death and violence in urban communities throughout the US through sound and movement, tracing the racial epithets in songs of Grief, Love, and Death by artists ranging from Notorious B.I.G and Tupac to contemporary rap artists like Kendrick Lamar and Drake. The work explores hip-hop’s lineage to create an abstracted dialogue about race in America through the lens of those who feel unacknowledged or without value.”
3. A.I.M/Kyle Abraham “Meditation: A Silent Prayer”
https://vimeo.com/421092897 (Links to an external site.)
4. Read this article about Kyle’s most recent piece, “An Untitled Love”
PDF of article:
Download KyleAbraham_untitledlove.pdf
Questions To answer AFTER you watch and read):
What are your emotional responses to the videos, either by themselves or as a collection? Which stood out to you the most? Why?
After reading about Kyle, and the blurbs about the work, how do his personal experiences show up in his dances? How does the work Kyle make with his company A.I.M reflect current issues in America?
How is his choreography (not just style- but ALSO subject matter) different and/or similar to other choreographers we have learned about?
Make sure you read the article and mention “Untitled Love”, Kyle’s most recent work with A.I.M.
