The Department of Music and Dance at Swarthmore College and the William J. Cooper Foundation present Kyle Abraham’s PAVEMENT on Friday November 9, 2012 at 8PM in the Lang Performing Arts Center’s Pearson-Hall Theater.  Abraham’s latest piece of work, PAVEMENT, pays homage to the bold, 1990’s backward-jeans-and-high-top-fade era in hip-hop, while examining a culture with a history plagued by discrimination, genocide, and a constant quest for a way out.

Inspired by John Singleton’s groundbreaking film Boyz N The Hood (1991) and essays of W.E.B DuBois’ The Souls of Black Folk (1903), Abraham’s PAVEMENT tells the story of a group of friends struggling to stay together while their community is being torn apart.  Set in the historically black neighborhoods of Pittsburgh, PAVEMENT depicts scenes of violence, love, male bonding, arrests, physical and emotional pain, all combined with sound bites from the film and operatic music.

Kyle Abraham — the 2012 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award recipient and 2010 Bessie Award-winning choreographer — first discovered his love of performance at the Civic Light Opera Academy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  He then went on to receive his BFA from SUNY Purchase and MFA from New York University Tisch School for the Arts. Abraham has collaborated with David Dorfman Dance, Mimi Garrard Dance Theater, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, and is currently choreographing for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion will also be involved in several residency activities during the week with Swarthmore students and the public.  These activities include a screening and discussion of Singleton’s film Boyz N the Hood on November 6 at 7PM, a Lecture/Demonstration on November 7 at 7PM, a Dance as Identity workshop on November 11 at 1PM.

For further information about these events, contact Tara Webb at 610-328-8260 or lpacevents@swarthmore.edu. The performance is free and open to the public without reservations.