Kyle Abraham's "Dearest Home" at The Kitchen

Tamisha Guy and Marcella Lewis
in Kyle Abraham's Dearest Home
(photo: Paula Court)

In Dearest Home, choreographer Kyle Abraham (Abraham.In.Motion) has made space for tears (quiet, copious, frequent), hands that shake from illness, incomprehension or desperation, and so many moments of vulnerable physical and emotional intimacy that we do not or rarely see in contemporary dance. Presented in the round at The Kitchen for Lumberyard in the City festival, this extraordinary ensemble piece speaks on so many levels. You can read in it Abraham's personal experiences of love and loss--as well as your own--and you can also trace the longings and sorrows we face as members of the broader human family in a time of crisis.

With this work, Abraham has stepped to a new level of focus and maturity, and his dancers--Matthew Baker, Tamisha Guy, Catherine Ellis Kirk, Marcella Lewis, Jeremy "Jae" Neal and Connie Shiau--are exemplary in their searching, open expressiveness and overall commitment.

If you're lucky to have tickets for this afternoon's matinee--which, sadly, concludes the run--you might do as I was advised to do and forego using headphones to hear the music. The music, composed by Jerome Begin, is an optional ingredient. You do have that choice, and I am now curious about it but still glad that nothing came between me and this heartbreaking, unforgettable work.

For information and tickets, click here.

The Kitchen
512 West 19th Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues), Manhattan
(map/directions)

Subscribe in a reader