A.I.M. DANCE COMPANY AT THE WALLIS

I’m basing this review of the A.I.M. Dance Company, (whose performance I recently saw at my favorite theater in the world, the Wallis in Beverly Hills,) on what a wise nine-year-old girl said to me a couple of years ago. I had taken her to two events in one day, and afterwards I asked her which one she liked better. Her eye-opening answer was, “It’s not a matter of which I thought was better—it’s just which is more my style.” So, despite my thoughts on this particular offering, I have absolutely nothing negative to say about the talent involved with this dance company—the particular selections were just not my style.

Photo by Cheryl del Cuore, as is the one at the top of this review.

To explain my feelings on it, I must first share a bit about my soul—it is ruled by music. And when dance is accompanied by music that hurts my insides, nothing works for me. It’s hard for me to concentrate on what I’m seeing if I don’t like what I’m hearing. And as far as my dance soul goes, I am mostly a ballet, hip-hop, afro-jazz, and the beautiful fluid kind of contemporary dance girl, with a little krump thrown in, (because that’s what Mr. X does.) Modern* dance is probably my least favorite discipline to see. So perhaps I’m not the best one to critique the much-lauded A.I.M. company. *[Note: I believe A.I.M. bills its style as contemporary, but in the presentation I saw, it looked more like what I consider to be the classic modern dance that I erroneously majored in at UCLA back in the day.]

All that being said, I often gauge the reactions of the rest of the audience as my barometer of shows, and the jam-packed Wallis audience that I was part of seemed to really value everything they saw that night. And several people I spoke with at intermission and afterwards told me that they really liked the quartet of numbers. One couple I know personally, who sees perhaps even more theatre and dance than I do, (they went to New York this week to see sixteen shows in ten days!,) said that they enjoyed it all very much.

And, as Mr. X noted, the dancers are all very skilled, an assessment with which I wholeheartedly agree, which is always wonderful to witness.

Kyle Abraham. Photo by Tatiana Wells.

But I always like to know what dances are about, if it’s not obvious. So I was confused about the intention or story of all of these numbers. I could not find those definitions in the digital program, (which could have been just me,) so I just watched and appreciated the talent in front of me.

For some reason, this more modern dance style was not what I was expecting that night, so that may be part of the reason that the production didn’t hit me as well as it did everybody else. But A.I.M. founder Kyle Abraham, (who was my favorite-dressed person there,) should take heart in the fact that I’m also not a devotee of Tony Award-winning choreographer Bill T. Jones’ company, which has a similar style to this one. There’s nothing wrong with either one—they’re just not my cup of tea. So Abraham is actually in great company.

The second number of the evening, Just Your Two Wrists, which was a solo performed by Amari Frazier, seemed to be everyone’s favorite. The guys next to me even gasped at it.

I definitely liked the second half of the show, (which was one complete number, Year, of which this was the West Coast Premiere,) more than I did the first because the choreography was a bit snazzier than in the three earlier pieces. Mr. X and I were actually looking forward to seeing a number set to Nina Simone music, because I must have read something wrong someplace, so we were a tad disappointed that it was not on tap this go-round.

Year, the new number that made up the entire second half. Photo by Chris Strong.

I think I would have admired the same overall movements more than I did if they were set to music that gets to my soul, such as choices by Teddy Swims or Shaboozey or Sade or Tchaikovsky or the aforementioned Nina Simone. Or, as a matter fact, the Beatles. That’s why I’m excited that Pepperland is coming to the Wallis next month, which I understand to be a full-length dance set to the music of the Beatles’ iconic album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. I cannot wait for that one.

Especially at the Wallis, where I’m always happy to see anything! As we were sitting in our seats waiting for the show to begin, Mr. X looked around at all the perfect sightlines, (no one’s head blocks the view of the patron behind them,) and admiringly declared, “This theatre is so well-designed!” I can add only—what he said.

To learn more about the Wallis’ upcoming shows, just click here: www.thewallis.org.