Why I made: The Kiwi choreographer who might 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.