Dance brings power to stage

‘An Untitled Love’ is new work by Kyle Abraham

BY SONYA ELLINGBOE SELLINGBOE@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Award-winning artistic director/choreographer Kyle Abraham brought the A.I.M. dance company to the Newman Center at the University of Denver for an exceptional evening of contemporary dance on Jan. 27.

“An Untitled Love,” a powerful new work by Abraham, was set to music by R&B legend D’Angelo.

Abraham, who is presently the Claude and Alfred Mann Endowed Professor in Dance at the University of California’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, said he has worked on the new “An Untitled Love” for four years.

“I fell in love with D’Angelo’s debut album, `Brown Sugar,’ when I was an undergrad at Morgan State University, a Historically Black University in Baltimore, in 1995,” Abraham wrote.

“Within his songs existed the histories and Neo-romanticism of Black Love in America. e same year marked the Million Man March, a de ning moment for Black men in the U.S. to unite against injustice. As part of my extended exploration of personal identity through the movement, it feels important for me to dive into a process that explores and celebrates that unity and that love, in all its facets. e stage was bare, except for a somewhat worn, fabric-covered sofa, angled at one side. Music and dancers lled the space at times and each of the 10 AIM members danced individually at other times, as D’Angelo and the Vanguard’s music owed.

“Ultimately, this work is dedicated to my parents, family (extended and immediate), to the cousins, aunts and uncles who aren’t blood related, but who we call family all the same,” Abraham wrote.

“ is creative exaltation pays homage to the complexities of self love and Black love, while serving as a thumping mixtape celebrating our culture, family and community,” Abraham wrote in describing the intensive project.

Abraham, a MacArthur Fellow (2013), grew up in Pittsburgh, then headed to New York, where he earned a BFA from SUNY Purchase and an MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. He later received an honorary doctorate in ne arts from Washington Je erson College. His dance training began at Pittsburgh’s Civic Light Opera Academy and the Creative and Performing Arts High School in that city. pro-development and growth interests hold sway before council and the city’s community development structure. To regard neighborhood residents as special interests is therefore unconscionably disrespectful. e last paragraph falsely states, Littleton is a representative democracy. It is not. For a little civics 101, Article IV Section 4 of the Constitution states: “ e United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of government …” is means all voices count; and Colorado, with its various municipalities, is included. at anyone would be fearful of registered voters making their will known at the ballot box should itself be a cause for grave concern. So vote “yes” on 300.

Prior to USC, Abraham served as a visiting professor in residence at the University of California Los Angeles’ World Arts Cultures in Dance program (2016 to 2021).

A.I.M. was founded in New York City in 2006 and the dancers who appeared at the Newman Center were: Jamaal Bowman, Tamisha A. Guy, Catherine Kirk, Jae Neal, Donovan Reed, Martell Ru n, Dymon Smara, Kar’mel Antonyowade Small, Keturah Stephen and Gianna eodore.

One additional contemporary dance program remains in the Newman Center Presents series for this season: e Paul Taylor Dance Company on March 27. e remaining performances vary widely from e Philip Glass Ensemble to Kodo to e Mingus Big Band. See newmancenterpresents.com. e box o ce number is 303-871-7720.

Ballot 300 is about restoring ballot access for citizen led measures intended to turn around or stop adverse municipal actions (referenda) and/or pursue actions that are being neglected (initiatives).

Don Bruns Littleton

cause I didn’t stay at that elevation for long as heading down the mountain was the goal, not camping at 12,000 feet. The home I am staying in has an awesome view. Now that I have acclimated I am enjoying it so much more as the views on a blue-sky sunny day are phenomenal. And with the amount of snow we have received, the mountains seem more majestic than ever.

Living at 10,200 feet brings with it a few extra benefits as the solace and quiet bring a sense of tranquility that escapes us in and around any city we may find ourselves living in. The rush and crush of daily life down at lower elevations is replaced up here with the hush of the wind whispering through the pine trees. It’s one of the most refreshing and relaxing places I have ever had the privilege to work from, even as I take calls, virtual meetings with customers and team members, while also finding time to write.

There is something else I have noticed, the people who live up here are used to living and rising above the noise and chatter going on in the city, in the news, and on social media. Not that there aren’t any concerns about the realities of life, they simply choose to find their peace by letting what others think about, worry about, and post about, to do it somewhere else and not up here.

Stopping into the local saloon there are people actually having conversations and not glued to their phones. Conversations are happening about the snowfall, the skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing and other pleasures of living in the mountains. And not just during winter, I have heard all the stories of fishing, hunting, hiking, mountain biking, hang gliding and golfing in the other seasons. Since I have lived up here for this brief time and have tried to settle in with the locals, I haven’t heard any conversations about politics from either side, no discussion of the pressures of society, and no attacks on anyone in the small town or community.

When they talk, they talk about family, friends, travel, life experiences, the fresh mountain air and how they still stand in awe and wonder at mountains and sights all around them from the snowcovered mountains to the turning of the aspen leaves as the yellow of the aspens melds softly into the brightness of the evergreens. They talk about fly-fishing the rivers, and as one gentleman shared, he didn’t even care if he went out and came back without any fish. To just stand in God’s handiwork, quietly admiring all the nature surrounding him, was equally rewarding.

We can’t all go live at 10,200 feet, but we can all choose to rise above the noise and escape the rush and crush happening all around us. Are you part of the noise or part of the peace? Can you use a break from it all and find a little more quietness? I would love to hear your story at gotonorton@sandler.com, and when we can rise above the noise to find solace, peace, and tranquility, it really will be a better than good life.

Michael Norton is an author, a personal and professional coach, consultant, trainer, encourager and motivator of individuals and businesses, working with organizations and associations across multiple industries.