Reviewed by Malcolm Calder
‘I Am a Renaissance’
By Neil Ieremia
A Black Grace Company B Production
With support from Auckland Live
Herald Theatre
Aotea Centre
Until 23 July 2023
Reviewed by Malcolm Calder
Neil Ieremia is by far one of Aotearoa’s most astonishing and prolific home-based creatives. His ever-growing body of work has easily and unselfconsciously graced stages in many parts of the world and he is rapidly becoming a one-man export machine. In part this is because of his perfectionism that never forgets the past, stands firmly rooted in the present and yet finds time to seriously address the future – sometimes simultaneously.
It is to that future that he has generated Company B, presently a dozen emerging dancers with varying levels of dance experience and some production personnel. They come from diverse walks of life, have successfully endured an exhaustive audition process and now have the opportunity to experience life as professional dancers. Company B members combine different personal histories, different body shapes and abilities, and different musical and dance backgrounds. These span the range from hip-hop to traditional, to church and to those with a more traditional bent. Some may find dance opportunities and develop careers as dancers, while others may drop out completely and still others may be offered work in the areas of producing and production, learning alongside Black Grace management.
Rather amazingly, Ieremia has led them through a mere four weeks of workshopping, teaching, and rehearsal to deliver this fully professional production that is astonishing for its vitality and exhausting in its energy.
‘I Am a Renaissance’ is structured as a series of vignettes with a strong musical underpinning that ranges from pop to hip hop, coupled with music-scapes that underscore the everyday concerns of young people today. It leaps from recollections of things past to things that might have been and things that are very much of the present, uses the simplest of props and creates some beautiful moments. None more so than when each dancer reveals their own mobile phone, which becomes a torch, and then a candle.
Perhaps wisely, much of the choreography is devised for group work and three full-company Black Grace dancers are included in this production, providing reference points, sustaining the tempi and ensuring the end result works. Above all, it abounds with energy – endless energy – and is well worth a look-see.
Auckland Live is to be applauded for supporting this initiative.
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