Kyle Abraham's "Pavement" at Harlem Stage

Kyle Abraham simply keeps growing. "Pavement" premiered at Harlem Stage (November 1-3), and in making the work, Abraham drew his inspiration from John Singleton’s 1991 film Boyz n the Hood and W.E.B Du Bois’ classic essay, “The Souls of Black Folk.” Then, typical of Abram, he also layers this with an operatic score comprised mostly by Handel’s Carestini (The Story of a Castrato) and the gun-laden sounds of an urban landscape. All this to tell the story of two rival neighborhoods from his hometown in Pittsburg. In various groupings, Abraham offers up his signature blend of street and modern dance when one or two of these technicians slide a thumb across their own nose and begins a sequence of battling bodies, lifting, shoving, pausing, falling, spinning or repeatedly running in complete circles.  Once, Abraham is the sole person face down on the floor after his arms are pulled behind his back as if in handcuffs, and he is still, while everyone dances around him. Shifting from soundtrack to voices from the film matches Abrahams many vignettes, but so strong is the Abraham's live voice when he asks for help. "Help me..." he says repeatedly, but the others simply walk by, over and over again. His cry is real; it's visceral. Yet another memorable moment is the last scene when the dancers pile on top of one another in the handcuffed position as Donny Hathaway croons, “Someday We’ll All Be Free.”  Yes, hurricane "Sandy" hampered some things (they couldn't open on Thursday, and the set could not be delivered from New Jersey), but Abraham and company delivered a evening of full theatre and satisfying dance.  Abraham's cast of twelve dancers/collaborators that help tell the story are Abraham, Matthew Baker, Charlotte Brathwaite, Chalvar Monteiro, Jeremy Neal, Dan Scully, Maleek Washington, Alexandra Wells, Eric Williams, Sam Crawford and Maritza Mosquera and one woman, Rena Butler.

See this Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/55470300) and also YouTube links below: (1) Pavement @ Jacob's Pillow and (2) Kyle on the making of Pavement.