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WEEKEND REVIEW: Black Grace at Bass Concert Hall

By Rob Faubion

Saturday night proved to be a tough one for Austin entertainment patrons. With so many shows happening simultaneously - VIVA Las Vegas, Carnaval Brasileiro, Diahann Carroll with the Austin Symphony, etc. - trying to decide which event to attend was a gamble. For the small but enthusiastic crowd that chose New Zealand dance troupe Black Grace at the Bass Concert Hall, they witnessed an amazing evening of energetic and poignant

contemporary dance.

Founder and Artistic Director Neil Ieremia - Samoan by heritage and New Zealander by birth - combines the traditional movements of his heritage with the language of contemporary dance. The result is incredibly physical numbers that dazzle as they enlighten.

The current plight of Polynesians in New Zealand is akin to the way some Texans view Mexican Americans: as an invasive species. Ieremia tackles the controversy head-on - and foot- and shoulder- and hand-on - with dances based in native ritual dance and then layers on contemporary stylings. In the energetic piece "Minoi," intricate hand-slapping by the all-male ensemble lays down a rhythm as they sing a traditional Samoan song. A song from Sesame Street creeps in and overtakes the melody, which is then eradicated by extremely quick and physical traditional dance and vocalizations. The melding of old and new, with tradition always coming out on top.

This theme permeated the multiple

pieces on the program, with different Polynesian traditions guiding Ieremai's dance vocabulary of contemporary movements. The designs of ritual tattooing become the inspiration for pieces that reflect on rites of passage and preserving family and heritage. The repeating patterns in woven mats and cloth become the basis for repeating movements in an inspired piece about reaffirming diversity, defying stereotyping, and fighting off cultural assimilation.

Ieremia also uses stage lighting extensively, much like a cinematographer. He creates performance spaces on the stage and fills them with highly emotional scenes, performed by one of the most muscular troupe of dancers to take the Bass Concert Hall stage all season.

The all-male troupe - with three female guest dancers on this tour - are put through quite a workout during the course of the program, constantly leaping, running, lifting, and moving. Their energy left many in the audience exhausted just from the experience of watching them.

Both Ieremia and Black Grace are still a young collaboration - he created the group in 1995 - but their substantial impact derives from the culture they preserve by making it vital. And for the Saturday night audience at Bass Concert Hall, after merely experiencing the first number in the program, no other performance option that night mattered any more.

(Photos courtesy Texas Performing Arts)