Overview
From New York city to Auckland comes Black Grace: One Night Only. Made up of four works featuring explosive dance, live music and singing, the Auckland performance follows the debut season at The Joyce Theatre in NYC.
Black Grace, the modern dance company formed in Auckland in 1995, draws on contemporary styles with indigenous influences and its own spin on storytelling. Neil Ieremia, the founder and choreographer of the group, is known to blend Maori and Pacific Island dance with modern hip hop.
One Night Only brings an evening of curated works for the upcoming ten-centre tour of the United States. In this showcase, attendees can see works by Ieremia, including a preview of new piece Crying Men, an abridged version of As Night Falls, as well as past works.
Following its introduction to the stage, the New York Times described the performance as "startlingly fresh, full of invention and infectious exuberance," "athleticism into art," and "a feat of metric intricacy — phenomenal."
The group will be the first dance company to perform in the new ASB Waterfront Theatre.
Image: Black Grace, Duncan Cole (cropped).