A.I.M by Kyle Abraham: If We Were A Love Song

Floor 3, Theater

January 3 at 4 pm, 7 pm
January 4 at 1 pm, 4 pm*
January 5 at 1 pm

*Audio description will be available for this performance.

If We Were a Love Song, presented as part of Edges of Ailey, is a series of poetic vignettes created by Kyle Abraham in collaboration with A.I.M and set to some of Nina Simone’s most intimate songs. The atmosphere of this work melds the intricate qualities of Abraham’s movements and musicality with Simone’s iconic silky voice. Comprised primarily of solos and duets, with versions created for both stage and screen, the work unfolds like a series of living portraits, deepening our reflections on community, love, and one’s self.

If We Were a Love Song (2021)
Choreography: Kyle Abraham in collaboration with A.I.M
Music: Nina Simone
Lighting Design: Dan Scully
Costume Design: Kyle Abraham and Karen Young 

Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair 
Amari Frazier, Mykiah Goree, Faith Joy Mondesire, Donovan Reed, Gianna Theodore, Keturah Stephen, Olivia Wang (Jan 3)
Jamaal Bowman, Alysia Johnson, Donovan Reed, William Okajima, Morgan Olschewske, Keturah Stephen, Olivia Wang (Jan 4 at 1pm)
William Okajima, Keturah Stephen, Faith Joy Mondesire, Olivia Wang, Jamaal Bowman, Donovan Reed, Gianna Theodore (Jan 4 at 4pm)
Amari Frazier, Keturah Stephen, Alysia Johnson, Olivan Wang, Mykiah Goree, Donovan Reed, Gianna Theodore (Jan 5)

Keeper of the Flame 
Jamaal Bowman (Jan 3 at 4pm)
Donovan Reed (Jan 4)
Keturah Stephen (Jan 3 at 7pm, Jan 5) 

Little Girl Blue 
Gianna Theodore (Jan 3, Jan 4 at 4pm, Jan 5)
Morgan Olschewske (Jan 4 at 1pm)

Don’t Explain 
Mykiah Goree, Donovan Reed (Jan 3, Jan 5)
Jamaal Bowman, Amari Frazier (Jan 4)

Wild is the Wind 
Amari Frazier (Jan 3)
William Okajima (Jan 4)
Olivia Wang (Jan 5) 

Images 
Faith Joy Mondesire (Jan 3, Jan 4 at 4pm)
Alysia Johnson (Jan 4 at 1pm, Jan 5)

The program runs approximately 30 minutes 

A.I.M BY KYLE ABRAHAM
Artistic Director: Kyle Abraham* (he/him)
Executive Director: Sydnie Liggett-Dennis (she/her)
Producing Director: Vernon Scott (he/him)
General Manager: Anne Dechêne (she/her)
Rehearsal Director: Jessica Tong (she/her)
Company Manager: Amber Lee Parker (she/her)
Interim Company Manager: Bridget Caston (she/her)
Production Stage Manager: Meredith Belis (she/her)
Lighting Supervisor: Dan Stearns (he/him)

Performers:
JAMAAL BOWMAN (he/him)
AMARI FRAZIER** (he/him)
MYKIAH GOREE (he/him)
ALYSIA JOHNSON (she/her)
FAITH JOY MONDESIRE (she/her)
DONOVAN REED (they/them)
WILLIAM OKAJIMA (he/him)
MORGAN OLSCHEWSKE (she/her)
KETURAH STEPHEN (she/her)
GIANNA THEODORE (she/her)
OLIVIA WANG (she/her) 

*Princess Grace Statue Award
**Princess Grace Award Recipient 

For full bios and headshots, please visit https://www.aimbykyleabraham.com/community#people. 

If We Were a Love Song was made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts. 

If We Were a Love Song was created in part through a residency at the Pillow Lab at Jacob’s Pillow; and during a “bubble” residency at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park and LUMBERYARD, made possible by the Mellon Foundation.

If We Were a Love Song is commissioned by ADF with support from the Doris Duke/SHS Foundations Award for New Works. Touring support for If We Were a Love Song provided by the Ed Bradley Family Foundation.

Kyle Abraham (He/Him/His) is Founder and Artistic Director of A.I.M by Kyle Abraham. He 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, and W Magazine, among many other publications. He is the recipient of the 2024 National Dance Critics Award for Choreography (Are You in Your Feelings / Alvin Ailey Dance Theater), 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 recently premiered Dear Lord, Make Me Beautiful at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City. 

Abraham has led and curated several performance series, including Danspace Project’s fiftieth anniversary season in 2024 and Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City (2022 and 2023, 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 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.

About the Company
Contemporary dance company A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, considered “one of the most consistently excellent troupes working today” (The New York Times), provides multifaceted performances, educational programming, and community-based workshops across the globe. Led by acclaimed choreographer and Artistic Director Kyle Abraham’s innovative vision, the work is galvanized by Black culture and history, features a rich tapestry of Black and queer stories, and is grounded in a conglomeration of unique perspectives described by Abraham as a “post-modern gumbo” of movement exploration. 

A.I.M is one of the most active touring dance companies in the United States, with an audience base as diverse as A.I.M’s movement vocabulary, drawing inspiration from a multitude of sources and dance styles. Since A.I.M’s founding in 2006, Abraham has created over thirty original works for and with the company. To expand its repertoire and offer a breadth of dance work to audiences, A.I.M commissions new works and performs existing works by outside choreographers, such as Trisha Brown, Bebe Miller, Andrea Miller, Doug Varone, Paul Singh, and A.I.M alums Rena Butler, Maleek Washington, and Keerati Jinakunwiphat.

Abraham’s unique vision and illumination of poignant and relevant issues set him apart from his generation of choreographers as a leading creative force in dance. A.I.M extends this vision and amplifies surrounding artistic voices to share movement and community-based work with audiences around the world.