A.I.M: A seeker of love and humanity

Donovan Reed and Jamaal Bowman performed in Kyle Abraham's "MotorRover" at the Spa Little Theatre in Saratoga Springs. 

Beauty and humanity – those are the things A.I.M by Kyle Abraham brought to the Spa Little Theatre on Saturday night.
 
The contemporary dance company took audiences on a ride that awed, showing us that these dancers are not only artists who paint a resonating picture, but also connect the visions to the heart. They remind, too, that dance is most powerful when it links both fine-tuned technique with compassion.
 
Case in point, Abraham’s 2023 “MotorRover,” which is danced in silence. Right off, I’m skeptical because dancing without music can feel cold. Yet in this duet, Jamaal Bowman and Donovan Reed are so absorbing that one becomes lost solely in the movement. Reed is a gorgeous dancer – so strongly centered he can draw out the extension and then ronde de jambs a raised leg without a quiver.
 
Bowman moves around him, at first a curious bystander and then one who mirrors his movement. He occasionally moves off to reflect and then counteract Reed who appears to exist in a cool self-absorbed world. And as in many of Abraham’s works, the two twirl, the circular movement become a tornado that sucks us all in. Yet Abraham also inserts gestures to signal, “hey, we are just two guys up here,” which is both humorous and touching.
 
While fascinated by “MotorRover,” I was moved to tears in “If We Were a Love Song” to music by Nina Simone. Here, love songs – many of them with crushing lyrics – speak of the universal desire and need for love and respect. The piece opens with seven reaching out as one to “Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair.” Moving upstage in a shaft of light, the group appears to claw in an attempt to capture a remote love.
 
Each of the successive five dances drew on the difficulty of relationships in a world often unfriendly to the poor, people of color and those in the gay community. Gianna Theodore is heartbreaking in “Little Girl Blue” as she falls to the floor, then rises up to only fall again. Reed returns with Mykiah Goree in “Don’t Explain” about a difficult partnership and William Okajima is phenomenal as “Wild in the Wind,” eating up the entire stage in search of something that won’t fly away. Finally, Joy Mondesire reflects on a world that doesn’t respect women of color. A timely topic indeed.
 
The evening also included “5 Minute Dance (You Drivin’?), to the percussive sound of JLin. This piece for four opens the show with a jolt. Finally, the choreographer Paul Singh’s solo “Just Your Two Wrists,” to music by David Lang’s “just (after song of songs),” is brilliant. Amari Frazier dances this complex piece with staggering refinement.
 
Through it all, Dan Scully’s lighting creates just the right atmosphere in all four works. Scully is masterful.
 
A.I.M by Kyle Abraham will repeat this program at 2 p.m. today in the Spa Little Theatre, Saratoga Springs. Go.