Growing up in Pittsburgh in the 1980s and 90s, Kyle Abraham was surrounded by music and dancing. “My parents are very social people. Ironically, I’m not,” the choreographer says, on a video call from his Brooklyn apartment. “They would have a lot of parties where people would come over and play cards, and my mother had birthday clubs with her girls and they would always have a big event. There were parties at the black-owned roller-skating rink, which was a big part of my childhood.”
Sometimes Abraham would be in the midst of things; at others he would be looking down from the top of the stairs listening in. His latest dance piece is inspired by all those memories of a happy community. An Untitled Love is set at a house party, complete with plastic-covered sofas and candid conversations, and its soundtrack is by neo-soul star D’Angelo.
