Kyle Abraham and the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater have joined together for “Untitled America,” a commentary on the plight of American Africans surviving in the United States. For the first, this is a work that has been created over multiple seasons. Part of this work was inspired by phone calls from prison. His mother’s brother would call and “once the phone calls ended, the sadness set in. On both ends,” he said. The first installment premiered December 2015, being described by Dance Magazine as, “Something our culture should be looking at … Kudos to Ailey- and Abraham- for keeping the revelations relevant.” It ran for 18 minutes and included traditional music and sounds from Raime. It called attention to themes such as isolation and separation.
The final piece of Kyle Abraham’s masterpiece is complete. If you didn’t know what the show “Untitled America” is, as described by the Alvin Ailey American Dance theater, “a haunting 3-part work that MacArthur “genius grant” winner Kyle Abraham developed and completed over the last two years, shines a light on the impact of the prison system on African-American families.”
The final installment is set to premiere during Alvin Ailey’s upcoming season, which runs from November 30 through December 31. The previous installments of “Untitled America” have highlighted racial injustices in America alongside the effects of the prison system. The pieces were performed by the dance troupe as stand alone work. On December 7, all the pieces will come together to be presented as a suite. Abraham has chose to use contemporary music by the duo Raime again.
The show is almost like a sad lullaby being ever so relevant in this time in America. Abraham is having a honest conversation about race and using the beauty of art and the distance of the metaphor in art. “Untitled America” celebrates culture and what it means to be Black in the world. The pieces are coming together December in New York.
