Housed temporarily at 1360 Fulton Street in the Brooklyn borough of New York City is the Abraham in Motion (A.I.M.) Dance Company. Founded by renowned choreographer Kyle Abraham, the work of the A.I.M. Dance Company, according to its website, “entwines a sensual and provocative vocabulary with a strong emphasis on sound, human behavior and all things visual in an effort to create an avenue for personal investigation and exposing that on stage.”
The productions are influenced by a combination of diverse genres including classical music, visual arts and hip-hop culture. Ambitious in its mission to “create an evocative interdisciplinary body of work”, the goal of the company is to examine and correlate identity to experiences, personal and communal.
At the helm of A.I.M. Dance Company are Sydnie Liggett, who serves as its Executive Director while Abraham leads as is its Artistic Director. Abraham is widely-celebrated for his incredible contributions to the arts. In 2019, he, according to “A.I.M./Kyle Abraham” at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 2019, was “the first Black choreographer commissioned to create a work on New York City Ballet in over a decade.” Among his many accolades, he is the recipient of a Doris Duke Artist Award and a Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award. Abraham is also a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellow and was awarded a “genius” grant.
The A.I.M. Dance Company is comprised of a diverse group of dancers across several disciplines. This allows for the development of productions and performances, including Inventing Pookie Jenkins, Pavement, Dearest Home, The Quiet Dance and Show Pony. These works are unique, enlightening and inspiring.
The dance company is also active in connecting with and developing the community in several ways. It is involved with social justice movements, including All Black Lives. It provides a list of Black businesses that may be readily promoted and supported. It offers resources to reinforce positive mental health and against racism. Recommendations for reading as well as viewing films are available. Additionally, supporters may keep up with topics important and entertaining to A.I.M. via podcast and its blog.
Because of these components, the Abraham in Motion (A.I.M.) Dance Company has quickly become one of the most prominent contemporary dance companies in the United States!
