Could choreographer Neil Ieremia be more Jackson Pollock than Michael Jackson?
The Wellington-born Samoan New Zealander started Black Grace in 1995 and has seen it morph into one of our leading dance companies. Right now, the company is performing Paradise Rumour in the United States before returning home for shows in Christchurch and Wellington.
But in the past two years, Ieremia has created high-tech dance/art where movement and music meet visual art. These works are immersive and multi-sensory and can travel pretty much anywhere you can install large LED screens.
The most recent, The Art of Black Grace 2 (TAOBG), is based on a series of kinetic movement paintings by Ieremia, inspired by dancers’ moves, memories of his parents’ colourful clothes and vibrant Pacific flora and fauna. Making work this way means the company can pop up in all sorts of places.
Neil Ieremia, why did you make The Art of Black Grace?
To ensure that I could continue to share my work in a Covid-impacted world.
Where did the idea come from?
I’d been thinking for some time about translating my work into a digital format and exploring film. Covid restrictions served as a perfect catalyst.
How did you pull it all together?
Innovation requires a considerable appetite for risk, and trial and error are all implicit parts of the creative process. I’m relatively comfortable with a large degree of risk-taking around my creative projects, but perhaps the most challenging aspect of this project was getting people to see what I was seeing, the way I was seeing it.
During the early stages of TAOBG, I had the least amount of experience in the room in the areas of filming-making and digital post-production. We managed to find some great people, including [cinematographer] Duncan Cole and his team who we had worked with over a decade on various photo shoots and the like. We made a great new connection with a young digital artist, Delainy Kennedy, and also found some great production guys.
What are your hopes for TAOBG?
My hope is that it reaches new audiences in strange and unexpected sites and locations all over the world. The whole project is designed to be modular and scalable, and as the tech evolves, I hope it becomes more cost-effective and even more immersive.
Do you paint regularly?
I don’t get to paint as much as I would like. The company is full-time and the multiple roles I perform within it take a considerable amount of my time and energy. However, I am slowly learning to make time for my other interests.
Turning to Paradise Rumour, why have you made this piece?
Paradise Rumour was commissioned by Hoor Al Qasimi, the President and Director of Sharjah Art Foundation in the United Arab Emirates. It also runs the Sharjah Biennial (widely regarded as the most respected art event in Western Asia) and Paradise Rumour was commissioned for its Bienniel 15.
As a director and curator, I believe Hoor has a very considered and deliberate approach. I was suprised at the speed and decisiveness with which she operates. I’ve never met anyone quite like her – with a broad and intelligent world view rendered through an artistic lens, and with a global network of indigenous artists and activists.
Hoor contacted us via Instagram. Five minutes into our first Zoom meeting with her, we were invited to perform at the biennial. When we reminded her of this, she told us she follows her instincts and has never been wrong.
I felt like it was a good time to check in with myself around how I think things are going for Pacific people since I made Gathering Clouds and since the [Ardern] government’s apology for the Dawn Raids.
You’ve said Paradise Rumour is an extension to your 2009 work Gathering Clouds. What has or hasn’t changed since 2009 in terms of your own work and the wider society you were commenting on?
On the surface, things seemed to have moved along with greater awareness of Pacific history and struggle here in Aotearoa. There is also a growing appetite for people and “things brown” or Pacific, particularly in the arts sector. And while there is wider acknowledgement of our Pacific achievement, it’s hard for collaborations to feel real and meaningful as it can often feel like a box-ticking exercise in the name of diversity. I believe we still have a way to go and as long as Māori struggle, Pacific people will struggle, too.
Black Grace has toured internationally for many years and to many places. How important are those global links for attracting audiences as well as the exchange of ideas that happens when we step into the world?
Our first international tour was in 1996 to Australia and we slowly built up a touring network over the years to include parts of Asia, Europe and North America. We’ve been touring to the US for more than two decades and it remains our biggest market. Without our international touring, I doubt we’d be able to sustain a full-time company.
We achieve this understanding at Black Grace, we accept that we never travel alone. We take our families, ancestors, villages, culture and country with us. And as such, we have an enormous responsibilty and duty to be as amazing and as excellent as we can possibly be. It’s a privilege to board planes to foreign countries and share our stories.
Is travelling and performing around the world glamorous?
I’ve said this many times before, I think we are the most boring dance company when it comes to touring. While we might have the very occasional night out, we are focused on our work and staying on task. We use the hotel gyms, organise park fitness sessions, we have curfews and everyone makes their own beds. We mostly eat together and enjoy a day off shopping or sightseeing.
In terms of logistical challenges, we once had to have two exact-same sets built that travelled in opposite directions in the US so that we could honour the performance schedule. After that experience, everything else seems like a walk in the park.
Is there anywhere you haven’t been where you’d like to perform?
Samoa. I owe her.
Paradise Rumour, Isaac Theatre Royal in Christchurch, March 17, and the St James Theatre in Wellington, March 22, 2024.
