When worlds collide — The Art of Black Grace

Neil Ieremia’s vision to show his extraordinary work to a wider audience takes another step with The Art of Black Grace 2/5.

Inspired by Ieremia’s childhood memories and Pacifica roots – his mother’s muumuu dresses, his father’s aloha shirts and the vibrant flora and fauna of the Pacific Islands – The Art of Black Grace 2/5 is based on a series of kinetic movement paintings interwoven with dancers from the Black Grace troupe.

Black Grace founder and artistic director Neil Ieremia was inspired by his childhood memories to produce The Art of Black Grace series. Photo / Jason Oxenham

“For the majority of my life, my challenge has been to create, refine and organise movement into patterns and compositions that express ideas, emotion, concept and musicality — choreography. My choreography is usually set precisely to music or a soundscape with very little tolerance for deviation,” Ieremia said. “These kinetic paintings are an exercise in imagination and spontaneity. Instead of leading the dancers, I was led as they improvised with minimal direction and information.

“My challenge was to respond as quickly and as honestly to their movement and energy as possible, while working to compose a painting to in some way, capture and reflect its source of inspiration and meaning.”

The Art of Black Grace display on a digital wall at the Takutai Square Atrium. Photo / Jason Oxenham

The multi-sensory experience uses sophisticated technology to immerse the viewer in the world of dance, painting and music, displaying the work on large LED screens in the Takutai Britomart Atrium.

“I have chosen a soundtrack reflective of my 1970s and 1980s upbringing,” said Ieremia. “These are combined with original compositions from my choreographies spanning three decades.

“The soundtrack is random and not set in any way to the dance, enabling potentially thousands of different combinations and interpretations.

“Each piece of music has meaning to me and comes with memories attached. They affect the paintings and the dancers differently each time, creating harmony and dissonance.”

The free exhibition aims to bring Neil Ieremia's extraordinary work to a wider audience. Photo / Jason Oxenham

This second experience in The Art of Black Grace series follows on from the 360-degree projection installation last year in Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter. That show enveloped audiences within a cylinder of 288sq m of LED panels 16m high and 6m across.

While smaller in scale, this project is no less ambitious by pushing the boundaries of contemporary dance and movement to include live painting sequences inspired by dance and music. The work will be able to travel across the motu, popping up in all sorts of places and bringing Pacific-inspired art to life for all to experience.

“It’s exciting to be presenting the next instalment of The Art of Black Grace, which has been in development for a number of months,” Ieremia said. " We’ve worked with some of the best in the business of film and post-production to bring our art to life in a unique way.

“The Art of Black Grace speaks directly to our purpose, to create world-class experiences in Pacific contemporary dance, and [to] our vision to create transformational dance experiences of the highest calibre that represent our unique place in the Pacific.”

The Art of Black Grace 2/5 is free and on at Takutai Britomart Atrium until Sunday December 3. See more at www.blackgrace.co.nz