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2023


“Music as Muse” by Candice Thompson, Fjord, November 22, 2023.

Music was muse, medium, and the message during Kyle Marshall Choreography’s recent engagement at the Joyce Theater. Presenting three new works from 2023, all choreographed by Marshall, the company gave a sensitive and highly attuned performance, showing their ability to both create and embody sound. Keep reading ︎︎︎


“Review: Kyle Marshall’s History Lessons, in Fragments” by Brian Seibert, The New York Times, November 9, 2023.

Kyle Marshall’s dance “Onyx” has a historical subject: the Black roots of rock ‘n’ roll. But don’t expect the work — one of the three New York premieres that make up his company’s debut program at the Joyce Theater this week — to be a straightforward parade of Black artists and their jukebox hits. Marshall’s approach is exploratory and questioning. Keep reading ︎︎︎


“Kyle Marshall Choreography comes to Joyce Theater” by Zita Allen, Amsterdam News, November 2, 2023.

Marshall and KMC Creative Director Edo Tastic spoke about the work to be performed this month, which is the product of a creative collaboration between them, as well as a company of talented dancers. The upcoming performance features a trio of unique works — “Ruin,” “Alice,” and “Onyx” — that showcase the results of that collaboration, best described as both innovative and thought-provoking. Keep reading ︎︎︎


Onyx review, “Kyle Marshall Choreography explores the roots of rock music” by Kate Abbott, BTW Berkshires, July 3, 2023. 

In Marshall’s hands, they are exploring a lineage of musicians. They began the work in part in the pandemic, they explained after the performance — exploring the history of the music, hearing the people who make it. Keep reading ︎︎︎


“Kyle Marshall Channels Matisse” by Merilyn Jackson, Fjord Review, January 20, 2023.

Over the decades, the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) has presented music and dance events in the East entrance’s Great Stair Hall as well as in its other spaces. In 2022, the PMA used the new cantilevered Gehry staircase for dance and music. It replaces the small auditorium where I once saw performances of Trisha Brown’s company and others dance. Inaugurating the new space, Philadanco danced memorable pastiches of Merce Cunningham’s early works, and former Cunningham Dance Company member, Melissa Toogood soloed down the staircase to choreography by Pam Tanowitz. Keep reading ︎︎︎

“‘Ruin’ brings Matisse art exhibit to life with dance”, The Philadelphia Tribune, January 23, 2023.

As the artistic director of his namesake company, Kyle Marshall is the driving force behind the choreography, using artist Henri Matisse’s love of dance in art as motivation. Keep reading ︎︎︎

“Rhythms of Dance: Kyle Marshall engages with Matisse at PMA” by Jane Fries, The Dance Journal, Philadelphia Dance, January 25, 2023.

There’s a similarity between Matisse’s ingenuity with visual rhythm and Marshall’s choreography. Ruin unfolds like a moving painting, with rhythmic swells of movement applied like bursts of color. His dancers play off of one other, sometimes joining together in loosely constructed unison. In a subtly recurring motif, harkening back to Matisse’s “Dance,” the group forms an open circle with arms outstretched towards each other. Keep reading ︎︎︎

 
Mentions

“Dance Performances, Festivals and More Coming This Fall”, The New York Times, September 4, 2023. ︎︎︎

“10th and Final Dance on The Lawn to Take Place September 9th”, New Jersey Stage, August 31, 2023. ︎︎︎

“Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company to Take Part In Dance on the Lawn”, New Jersey Stage, August 22, 2023. ︎︎︎

“Jacob's Pillow Reveals Artists and Schedule of Events For 10 Pillow Lab Residencies”, Broadway World, August 22, 2023. ︎︎︎

“Jacob’s Pillow ‘welcoming the world’ back for 91st year”, Spectrum News 1, June 30, 2023. ︎︎︎

Highlight on KMC’s Joyce debut, “Joyce Season to Include Kyle Marshall and Hope Boykin Debuts”, The New York Times, June 28, 2023. ︎︎︎

Onyx mention, “A Sizzling Summer: The Shows to Catch as Festival Season Hits Its Stride”, Dance Magazine, June 16, 2023. ︎︎︎

Onyx mention, “These summer dance offerings will make you feel like moving”, The Washington Post, June 8, 2023. ︎︎︎

“American Dance Festival Announces Its 2023 Performances”, Broadway World, March 1, 2023. ︎︎︎

“An International Lineup Returns for Jacob’s Pillow’s 2023 Season”, The New York Times, February 15, 2023. ︎︎︎

“DANCE ON THE LAWN Montclair's Dance Festival Returns For 10th And Final Year”, Broadway World, February 6, 2023. ︎︎︎

“Dance On The Lawn Returns for 10th and Final Year in September,” New Jersey Stage, February 6, 2023. ︎︎︎

Ruin mention, “Matisse (also) designed a ballet. You can watch it at PMA”, The Philadelphia Inquirer, January 15, 2023. ︎︎︎

Colored mention, Broadway World, January 9, 2023. ︎︎︎
Onyx mention in Dance Calendar January 2023, New York Amsterdam News, January 6, 2023. ︎︎︎






2022


“Choreographing the Spirit: Kyle Marshall, Religion, and Race on the Dance Stage” by Kathryn Dickason, NYU’s The Revealer Magazine, September 2022

A profile of how acclaimed choreographer Kyle Marshall infuses his performances with religious motifs. In the United States, few modern dance choreographers have created memorable meditations on religion since Alvin Ailey’s masterwork Revelations, which premiered in 1960. But Kyle Marshall, an award-winning New York-based choreographer, is currently exploring how the dancing body, and especially the Black dancing body, becomes a vehicle for spiritual transcendence. Keep reading ︎︎︎


“In Conversation: Kyle Marshall with Candice Thompson,” The Brooklyn Rail, April 2022

With an upcoming show at the new Chelsea Factory, Marshall aims to uplift. Pre-pandemic, Kyle Marshall was in artistic overdrive dancing and touring with Trisha Brown Dance Company while also directing and making work for his own company, Kyle Marshall Choreography. The early months of the pandemic offered him a chance to slow down. “I had to hone in on my own dancing spirit again and understand why I was moving, why I was making dances,” says Marshall. Keep reading ︎︎︎


“Review: The Choreographer Kyle Marshall’s Spacious Slow Burns” by Siobhan Burke, The New York Times, April 2022

Even before the pandemic forced people into solitude, the choreographer Kyle Marshall had been working on a solo. In February 2020 he shared a work-in-progress at Danspace Project, in which he was asking questions about his Jamaican heritage, his queerness and the relationship between them. I still recall the quiet, steady force of his running in loops around the St. Mark’s Church sanctuary, alongside the pulse of Bob Marley’s “Exodus.” Keep reading ︎︎︎

2021


“Kyle Marshall Choreography Makes Smashing NWS Debut” by Marci Falvey, October 2021

The New World Symphony kicked off its 2021-22 Chamber Music Series on Sunday, October 24, marking two institutional debuts: cellist Oliver Herbert and Kyle Marshall Choreography.
        Both came together with NWS Cello Fellows to present Julius Eastman’s The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc, an enigmatic work called “grunge-metal chamber music” by The New York Times. Eastman’s score provides a thrilling backdrop to Joan, a quartet celebrating power over tyranny choreographed by Kyle Marshall. Keep reading ︎︎︎


“Kyle Marshall’s Film “Stellar” Takes Us on a Voyage” by Lauren Putty White, September 2021

        Kyle Marshall Choreography presented an other-worldly dance film, Stellar, as a part of the Fringe Festival this year. Knowing the inspiration came from the transcendent music of Sun Ra and Alice Coltrane, I was already drawn to the theme of this work. The film welcomes me with dancers in tie dye rainbow hoodies and sweatpants, sparkles twinkling, subtly accentuating their colorful clothing. In slow motion, Kyle Marshall, Bree Breeden, and Ariana Speight carve through the space, their limbs controlled and sustained. Pause, live, breathe, move, repeat. Watching the dancers create pathways with their extremities pulls me into their trance. Keep reading ︎︎︎


“Lewis Center for the Arts Announces Caroline Hearst Choreographers-in-Residence” by CentralJersey.com, June 2021

The Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Dance at Princeton University announces dance artists Kyle Marshall and Larissa Velez-Jackson as the Caroline Hearst Choreographers-in-Residence for the 2021-22 academic year.
        Marshall’s and Velez-Jackson’s residencies will include teaching dance courses in the fall semester and choreographing new works that will be performed at the Princeton Dance Festival in November. Keep reading ︎︎︎


“A Choreographer Finds His Way, Getting Lost in the Stars” by Gia Kourlas, June 2021

Kyle Marshall’s pandemic year was all about change. He turned 30. He moved into his own apartment. He now depends on his dance company, which he formed in 2014, for his livelihood. And he’s working with new dancers, a major shift for a choreographer whose works were populated by close friends and roommates — fellow graduates from Rutgers University.
        “That transition felt like a lot, but it also felt absolutely necessary because it brings new ideas forward,” he said in an interview. Keep reading ︎︎︎


2020


“Celebrating the 2020 Harkness Promise Awards” by Dance Magazine, November 2020

A partnership between Dance Magazine and the Harkness Foundation for Dance, the Harkness Promise Awards recognize choreographers in their first decade of professionally presenting their work. The net proceeds from the Dance Magazine Award ceremony fund the Harkness Promise Awards, which include a $5,000 unrestricted grant, along with 40 hours of studio space and ongoing mentorship with Joan Finkelstein, the Harkness Foundation's executive director. Awardees are chosen for the excellence of their artistic work and their commitment to community transformation through dance.
        This year's Harkness Promise Award recipients are Marjani Forté-Saunders and Kyle Marshall. Keep reading ︎︎︎


2019


Review: “Dancing the ‘Twisted Beauty’ of the Black Experience” by Siobhan Burke, December 2019

Until seeing his program at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, I knew Kyle Marshall as a compelling, sensitive dancer with the Trisha Brown Dance Company and someone whose work trusted colleagues had been urging me to see. Now I understand the buzz. In a double bill at BAM Fisher (as the only local dance maker in this year’s Next Wave Festival), Mr. Marshall demonstrated that rare and hard-to-define thing: a choreographic voice like no one else’s. Keep reading ︎︎︎


“A Choreographer Dances Out His Feelings About Race and Religion” by Gia Koulas, December 2019

There are signs that a child is born to dance. In Kyle Marshall’s case, it was clear early on: He performed in the living room to an audience of stuffed animals.
        “There’s photo documentation,” he said recently, with the hint of a smile.
        Dance classes came next. “My parents were both athletes, and I come from a family of runners,” Mr. Marshall said. “My father was in the ’84 Olympics. So I grew up in a family of high-achievers. They encouraged me to dance. They encouraged me to take it seriously.” Keep reading ︎︎︎


“Dance News: The 43 Nominees For The 2018 Bessie Awards Are…” by The Dance Enthusiast, October 2018

...Kyle Marshall was honored with the 2018 Juried Bessie Award, which was presented to him by the 2018 Bessies Jury: Robert Battle, Stephen Petronio and Ana “Rokafella” Garcia, with a citation that read: “For exploring important ideas around race and sexuality in dances that embody rather than illustrate complicated issues. For drawing on a variety of movement styles to create accomplished, witty, and immensely engaging choreography.”
        The Juried Award provides touring and residency opportunities outside of  New York City through partnerships including the New York State DanceForce, a statewide network of arts organizations and presenters, The Emelin Theater, and other organizations. Keep reading ︎︎︎


“Kyle Marshall - DOTL’s 2016 ‘Emerging Commissioned New Jersey Choreographer’” by Dance on the Lawn, February 2016

DOTL’s second recipient, Kyle Marshall will create a New Work for final presentation at “Dance on the Lawn (DOTL) 2016.” From Kyle:
“I am so honored to be chosen as the 2016 ‘Dance on the Lawn Commissioned Emerging Choreographer.’ Thank you Charmaine, Diann and the rest of the Dance on the Lawn staff and selection committee for choosing me. I am excited to meet and work with you all and the local community of Montclair, NJ over the next coming months.”
Keep reading ︎︎︎


“At Conduit, a vote for brevity and wit” by Martha Ullman West, July 2014

Brevity, the long-winded Polonius says in Hamlet, is the soul of wit. That can also apply to non-verbal communication, and Kyle Marshall’s “Soundboard,” the shortest of the nine pieces included in this year’s version of Conduit’s annual Dance+ Festival, is a perfect example. The New Yorker is the real deal, a young choreographer (he received his BFA in dance from Rutgers University in 2011), and with “Soundboard” he has made a solo for himself that is at once lean and expansive. A beguiling dancer, he not only engages with the audience (he makes eye contact, even!) he embraces it, a rarity in the frequently solipsistic terrain of contemporary dance. Keep reading ︎︎︎
© Kyle Marshall Choreography 2023. Updated October 2023.
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