Kyle Abraham's The Watershed

            The Watershed is a contemporary piece including nine dancers that is choreographed by Kyle Abraham. Abraham brings the controversial subjects of race and gender discrimination to life through stylized movement. He incorporates the use of footage, text, crops, images, dialogue, musical montages and movement to properly display the hardships of black individuals throughout history in two acts. Took two years to choreograph.
             There were 4 female dancers and 5 male dancers in the piece, one of them being the choreographer; Kyle Abraham. The show started with a grouping of three duets slow dancing together to the 1965 song, "Yes I'm Ready" by Barbara Mason. The dancers all wore costumes that were neutral toned and complimented their skin colors. Women were clothed in long skirts while the men wore long sleeved neutral toned shirts with neutral pants. Projections of innocent and controversial interracial relationships were shown in the background while the dancers moved steadily to the music. One scene included Shirley Temple and Bojangles dancing alongside one another in the movie "The Littlest Rebel". The scene was slowed down and defamiliarized causing certain details to be prominent. For example, while Bojangles and Shirley Temple were dancing, there was a man white man standing by the door holding a gun. Another scene showcased a racy love scene between a black male and white female in the movie "Mandingo" that took place in 1975. The dancing is very romantic and fluid, but the movement contradicts with the message that is being represented on the projections. Later on there is music by Otis Redding playing and the groups of couples split up into variations of trios, duets and solos. In the corner of the stage there is an industrial pipe tree that is covered with artificial moss in Act I that is later transformed into a futuristic tree to represent the effect of time passing.