New Zealand's Black Grace to Perform at Annenberg Center, 2/12-14

Mixing its rich Pacific Island heritage with contemporary choreography, New Zealand's Black Grace brings intensity, artistry and prowess to Dance Celebration. Performances take place Thursday February 12 at 7:30 PM, Friday, February 13 at 8 PM and Saturday, February 14 at 2 PM and 8 PM at the Annenberg Center, 3680 Walnut Street. Tickets are $20-$50. For tickets or for more information, visit AnnenbergCenter.org or call 215.898.3900. Tickets can also be purchased in person at the Box Office. Dance Celebration is co-presented by Dance Affiliates and Annenberg Center Live.

The program features five works choreographed by artist director Neil Ieremia, expressing raw finesse, unique beauty and power. Dances include Minoi (1999), Pati Pati (2009), Mother Mother (2013), Method (2000) and Gathering Clouds (2009), performed a company made up of primarily Pacific Island dancers - seven men and three women.

Two works drawn from traditional Pacific Island dance open the program. Set to traditional music, Minoi fuses a Samoan dance style known as Fa'ataupati (slap dance) with western contemporary dance to explore cultural identity issues with live singing and vocalizations. Pati Pati is influenced by traditional Samoan Sasa (seated dance) and Fa'ataupati (slap dance) set to music by Surface.

Mother Mother is a tribute to Ieremia's mother, who was the unsung hero of his family. It was originally choreographed for a music video by New Zealand's Fat Freddy's Drop. Method, a playful romp, is inspired by boyhood memories. The Boston Globe notes "Method is a charming nod to Paul Taylor's classic 'Esplanade.' Using some of the same music, Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No.3, it features the men flinging themselves into one another's arms and exuberantly jumping over a body rolling across the floor. But Ieremia's exploration is a lot more rough and tumble. You can see backyard rugby games and impromptu wrestling matches in the dancers' kicks and headlocks, with spins that flip on a dime."

The show closes with Gathering Clouds, a 60-minute work set to drumming and chanting, hymns, music by Elvis Presley, and excerpts of Bach's Goldberg Variations. The piece has a diverse movement vocabulary that ranges from traditional Samoan dance to fast and dynamic movements influenced by cult hero Bruce Lee. This piece captures Black Grace at its physical and creative best. A deeply personal work, Gathering Clouds responds to controversial claims made by a New Zealand economist in a discussion paper titled "Growing Pains: The Valuation and Cost of Human Capital." He notes, amongst other things, that "Pacific Island immigrants are a drain on the (New Zealand) economy" and warns that Polynesians living in New Zealand display "significant and enduring under-achievement" - a problem he believes immigration is making worse.

Said Ieremia about the piece, "Gathering Clouds is not about looking back in anger, nor is it about pretending that everything is perfect when clearly it is not. It is simply about reaffirming who we are as a young and diverse nation that is learning to weather the storms of change."

In addition, Black Grace will be conducting three outreach activities - a Student Discovery program, Friday, February 13 at 10:30am, a Curtain Talk after the Friday, February 13 8 pm performance and a free master class taught by Neil Ieremia on Friday, February 13 at 1pm. For more information, contact 215-636-9000 ext. 110 or annemarie@danceaffiliates.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.