Pittsburgh native Kyle Abraham earns spot on Dance Magazine list
The spread of COVID-19 has postponed a lot in the performing arts world, but it didn’t stop Dance Magazine from publishing its list of “20 Top Works of the Last 20 Years” — which included an evening-length production by Pittsburgh native Kyle Abraham.
Mr. Abraham, a product of Pittsburgh CAPA and Pittsburgh CLO who’s now in his early 40s, earned a spot on the list for his 2012 show “Pavement.”
“Pavement” premiered at Harlem Stage Gatehouse in New
York, just days after Superstorm Sandy walloped the Northeast. Part of the set got stuck in New Jersey, and some audience members coming from across the country had flights canceled because of the storm. The show, however, went on with sold-out crowds. The Pittsburgh Dance Council presented “Pavement” at Byham Theater as part of its 2012-13 season.
In a 2013 interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Mr. Abraham described “Pavement” as “a juxtaposition of ‘The Souls of Black Folk’ by W.E.B. Du Bois from 1903 and John Singleton’s 1991 film ‘Boyz n the Hood.’” Together, these pieces create a timeline of where African Americans were then, where they are now and where their communities could be heading, he said. The work also is inspired by his upbringing in Pittsburgh’s East End.
Dance Magazine saluted “Pavement” for being “so honest, so relevant, so real, so uncomfortable,” according to writer Jennifer Stahl. It stood out, she added, for the way “it used the familiar setting of a basketball court to expose the reality of living under the constant threat of violence.”
“Pavement” premiered a year before the Black Lives Matter movement was officially founded, but it sends a similar message. “The repeated motion of dancers being guided to the floor with their hands behind their backs, as though being arrested, hauntingly captured a sense of helplessness,” Ms. Stahl wrote.
To read the full list — which includes the likes of Broadway’s “Hamilton” and works from Paul Taylor, Justin Peck, William Forsythe and Crystal Pite — visit dancemagazine.com.