Black Grace

Black Grace — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:22:16 +0000

Black Grace has created a Facebook page! We encourage you all to join up and stay in touch with our touring activities. Search ‘Black Grace‘ and become our Facebook friend!

Black Grace — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 07:23:41 +0000

Black Grace have now had their opening performance of the 2010 US and Canada tour – opening at the Leeward Community Theater in Honolulu, Hawaii. The performance went very well, complete with an oversold audience! Directly after the performance, Michael Pili Pang, Director of the Mayors Office of Culture and Arts, on behalf of the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, presented Neil Ieremia and the Company with a proclamation stating that February 6th 2010 is officially ‘Black Grace Day’ in Honolulu! This is a huge honour for Neil and Black Grace – and the Company would like to thank everyone involved with this, especially Vicky Holt Takamine and her Halau, and Joe Patti and crew of Leeward Community Theater for their hospitality during our stay in Honolulu.
The Company are now looking forward to their performance in Maui!

Black Grace — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:33:42 +0000

The dates are set for the 2010 tour of North America. This time Black Grace will be performing in 4 centres throughout Hawaii and 7 centres in the mainland from Austin, Texas to Princeton, New Jersey. Black Grace have also been invited to perform at the Cultural Olympiad in Vancouver, Canada at the completion of the tour. Check out our productions page for more details and new video material!

Black Grace — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:41:18 +0000

Neil Ieremia and Black Grace have recently hosted Sandra Laronde, Founding Artistic Director of Red Sky Performance and Director of Aboriginal Arts at The Banff Centre, Alberta, Canada. During her visit to New Zealand, Sandra was joined by dancer Carlos Riviera and they both had a fantastic time in Aotearoa. During their two-week stay Neil and Sandra discussed opportunities for a collaboration between Black Grace and Red Sky Performance. We will be announcing plans soon!

Black Grace — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:17:54 +0000

Black Grace has recently returned from touring to Zug, Switzerland and to ten centres throughout Germany. The tour was a huge success and the Company looks forward to returning there in the near future. The work received audience and critical acclaim, with standing ovations and rave reviews.
“Tradition without sentimentality, a minimum of comedy, occasional flashes of classical dance forms, colossal athleticism, elements of Samoan dance culture, and sheer physical charisma!” - Wolfsburger Nachrichten, Germany.

'Gathering Clouds', photographed by Neil Ieremia

Black Grace — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:35:32 +0000

Meet another couple of our young talents working on the UrbanYOUTHMovement production of ‘YOU BETTER RUN BOY!’ Jarah-Jayde Wasasala (17) of Avondale College and Renaye McLachlan (19).

Jarah-Jayde Wasasala

“In UYM everyday is completely different. You learn more than just dance; you learn life skills. I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to work with such brilliant artists and dancers. It is demanding, but worth it. You are pushed beyond what you think you are capable of. It’s a safe, fun and inspiring environment to be a part of. I love it!”
- Jarah

Renaye McLachlan with BG Dancer Tupua Tigafua

“There’s a new challenging surprise everyday which we are pushed to achieve in a fun way.”
- Renaye

Black Grace — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:54:44 +0000

Tickets for the UrbanYOUTHMovement season of ‘YOU BETTER RUN BOY!’ are selling fast. The young talents are now only 3 weeks out from the performance! Here’s a little bit about Wiremu Mehana (16) from Papakura High School and Jenn Horne (19) from AUT.

Wiremu Mehana

“If you think 70 press ups are hard, try 300. But if you can do 200 that’s awesome!”
- Wiremu

Jenn Horne

“It’s wicked, it’s a place where I can be whatever, whoever and wherever I want. I can let my imagination go wild – let out my energy! Woohoo, it’s amazing!”
- Jenn

Black Grace — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:57:40 +0000

Black Grace is proud to announce Artistic Director Neil Ieremia has been awarded a Paul D. Fleck Fellowship in the Arts from The Banff Centre, Canada. This prestigious fellowship recognises excellence and was developed to provide opportunities for accomplished artists to pursue projects, which develop the artist both professionally and artistically, and contribute to the vibrancy of arts communities around the world. Congratulations Neil!

Black Grace — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 01:17:12 +0000

Rehearsals for ‘YOU BETTER RUN BOY!’ are going strong. We are now one month out from the performance season! Meet another couple of our talented cast members; Thomas Fonua and Renee Ball …

Thomas Fonua

“This whole experience makes you appreciate where you’re from and how hard you fought to get here. Everyone has different circumstances, but we all can relate to one thing, we all love to dance.”
- Thomas

Renee Ball

“My time here at UYM so far has challenged me physically, mentally and emotionally. Everyday is different, I am constantly learning new things about dance, others and about myself. It has been hard work, but also fun!”
- Renee

Black Grace — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:52:18 +0000

UYM rehearsals for the upcoming show ‘YOU BETTER RUN BOY!’ are now in full swing. The cast is now in their third week of rehearsals.
Keep an eye on this page, as we will bring you more comments from different cast members during the remainder of the rehearsal period!

Joash Tuugamusu with BG Dancer Sean MacDonald

“It’s an excellent opportunity to learn, improve and mature – a good all over experience so far. I’m living my dream!”
- Joash

Brittany Le Sueur with BG Dancer Tupua Tigafua

“It’s a great place where we can come and be whoever we want to be – go crazy! It’s been a fantastic way to spend my holidays and meet new people!”
- Brittany