Kyle Abraham '06 (MFA, Dance) — award-winning dancer, MacArthur Fellow, and artistic director of A.I.M by Kyle Abraham— was named the convocation speaker and prestigious Lucas Lecturer for Carleton College. The Ward Lucas Lecture Series in the Arts sponsors an annual series of public lectures, with previous speakers including Tony Kushner '84.
Beyond his role as artistic director for A.I.M, Abraham was recently commissioned by the Royal Ballet, creating Optional Family (2021) and The Weathering (2022). Abraham has also previously created works with the New York City Ballet, including When We Fell (2021), which was praised by The New York Times as “among the most beautiful dance films of the pandemic”; the American Ballet Theater, including a solo work Ash (2019) for Misty Copeland; Hubbard Street Dance Chicago; the National Ballet of Cuba; and many more.