Join A.I.M by Kyle Abraham for A.I.M Homecoming Week! (VIRTUAL)
Company:
A.I.M by Kyle Abraham
JOIN A.I.M BY KYLE ABRAHAM FOR HOMECOMING WEEK OCTOBER 11-15,
A WEEK-LONG CELEBRATION OF A.I.M’S RESILIENCE, PERSEVERANCE AND CREATIVE TENACITY
Celebrate 2021 A.I.M Homecoming Week Honorees Kristopher Bowers, Emmy Award-Winning Composer Codie Elaine Oliver and Tommy Oliver, Founders of Black Love Inc. and Confluential Films
NEW YORK, NY – September 29, 2021 – Contemporary dance company, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, is pleased to announce the 2021 A.I.M Homecoming Week celebration, being held from October 11-15. Homecoming this year pays tribute to honorees who exemplify artistic distinction and innovative contemporary storytelling: Emmy Award-winning composer Kristopher Bowers and Codie Elaine Oliver & Tommy Oliver, Founders of Black Love Inc. & Confluential Films.
Through their own unique artistic media, choreographer Kyle Abraham and the honorees are storytellers who showcase the expressions of the Black experience who share stories that often go untold. Mr. Bowers and Mr. and Mrs. Oliver are being honored for the extraordinary ways they have reached people through their musical compositions and candid conversations about relationships respectively. Through the course of the pandemic, the notable honorees continue to make meaningful work and forge powerful connections with audiences, even as they’ve had to adapt their crafts and share their stories through new forms of media, networks, and communication.
In 2015, Mr. Bowers and Mr. Abraham collaborated on Absent Matter, a group work exploring hip-hop’s fascination with posthumous acclaim, that embraces Oakland-based activist Alicia Garza’s now infamous call to action, #BlackLivesMatter, and the rage and grief associated with its aspirations of change. Mr. Bowers and Mr. Abraham share a commitment to using their platforms to highlight, celebrate, and uplift Black voices and to create space to start conversations around change.
The Olivers created the Black Love to change the narrative on how Black love is perceived and talked about and to highlight the beauty behind Black stories and Black life. There are parallels between their program and Kyle Abraham’s newest evening-length work An Untitled Love, which pays homage to the complexities of self-love and Black love, and celebrates Black culture, family and community.
Featuring both virtual and in-person activities, A.I.M Homecoming Week will raise critical funds to support A.I.M’s artists and the sustainability of the company. October 12 is virtual A.I.M Homecoming Night highlighting these incredible honorees and their contributions to their respective fields, along with never-before-seen, behind-the-scenes footage from A.I.M’s four-week bubble residency in the winter of 2021. Program presenters will include Ashley Chea, Jason Moran, A.I.M dancers, and more. The virtual benefit is free of charge and attendees may RSVP here.
“This year’s Homecoming celebrates Black excellence in all forms, and the perseverance of our existence and survival through the pandemic,” said A.I.M Executive Director Sydnie Liggett-Dennis. “A.I.M and Kyle’s artistic approach is collaborative in nature, and it’s critically important to ensure our team of dancers and administrators are supported during the uncertain times that we still find ourselves navigating. In addition to raising the funds that allow A.I.M to sustain the individuals who make up this organization, we are thrilled to recognize our honourees.
The Homecoming Week Schedule includes:
Monday, October 11: A.I.M Silent Auction – Live at 10:00 A.M. ET
One-of-a-kind experiences and items can be bid on at A.I.M’s online silent auction. The auction is accessible via A.I.M’s event page when it goes live on October 11, at 10:00 a.m. The silent auction ends on Friday, October 15, at 6:00 P.M.
Tuesday, October 12: Virtual A.I.M Homecoming Night – 7:00 P.M. ET
A.I.M’s Homecoming Night program will be FREE but an RSVP is required to receive the link to stream. The program will premiere on the gala website.
Wednesday, October 13 & Thursday, October 14: A.I.M at Fall for Dance - 8:00 P.M. ET
A.I.M will perform in New York at New York City Center’s Fall for Dance Festival, marking the company’s first NYC performance since 2019. Often sold-out, this year’s Fall for Dance features A.I.M’s New York premiere of Our Indigo: If We Were a Love Song, conceived by Artistic Director Kyle Abraham and set to the intimate, stirring music of Nina Simone.
The Fall for Dance performances are sold out through New York City Center, but a limited number of tickets are available as part of A.I.M Homecoming Week packages.
Additional information about A.I.M’s 2021 Homecoming Week is available on the event page.
About A.I.M
The mission of A.I.M by Kyle Abraham is to create a body of dance-based work that is galvanized by Black culture and history. The work, informed by and made in conjunction with artists across a range of disciplines, entwines a sensual and provocative vocabulary with a strong emphasis on music, text, video, and visual art.While grounded in choreographer Kyle Abraham’s artistic vision, A.I.M draws inspiration from a multitude of sources and movement styles. aimbykyleabraham.org
About Kristopher Bowers
Kris Bowers is an award-winning film score composer and pianist known for his thought-provoking playing style, creating genre-defying film compositions that pay homage to his classical and jazz roots. Bowers has composed music for film, television, documentary, and video games collaborating with musicians and artists across genres, including Jay Z, Kanye West, Kobe Bryant, Mahershala Ali, Justin Simien, and Ava DuVernay. His works include The Snowy Day (for which he won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition in 2017), Dear White People, Green Book, When They See Us, Black Monday, Madden NFL 20, Mrs. America, Bridgerton, Bad Hair, The United States vs. Billie Holiday, Space Jam: A New Legacy, Respect, and King Richard. In 2020, Bowers co-directed the documentary short film, A Concerto is A Conversation, with documentary filmmaker Ben Proudfoot. The film, a New York Times Op-Doc – executive produced by Ava DuVernay, premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and was an Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary (Short Subject) at the 93rd Academy Awards. krisbowers.com
About Elaine Oliver & Tommy Oliver
Husband and wife duo, Tommy and Codie Elaine Oliver, are the creators of the hit OWN docu-series, Black Love, which premiered as the most-viewed unscripted series in OWN’s history. Going into its fourth season, the show has garnered three NAACP Image Award Nominations including Outstanding Documentary Series and Best Director. Their companies, Confluential Films & Black Love Productions, are currently producing scripted and unscripted content for film, TV, and digital with projects set up at HBO, Sony, Lionsgate & Netflix. They also run the lifestyle site blacklove.com and produce a number of live events including the annual Black Love Summit. Through their companies, Tommy & Codie are devoted to creating and championing projects that are inclusive and celebrate our shared human experience.
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