Reviewed by Malcolm Calder
Not A Retrospective
Black Grace
By Neil Ieremia MNZM
Dir Neil Ieremia
With Che Fu, Tha Feelstyle, Buckwheat, the NZ Trio, DJ Manuel Bundy, multiple dancers and the Town Hall Staff
Great Hall,
Auckland Town Hall
Saturday, 20 March 2025
Reviewed by Malcolm Calder
There was actually a bit of dance at this Black Grace extravaganza. But there was an awful lot more as well.
Billed as a celebration – and rightly so – this was really a 30th birthday party for Neil Ieremia’s now iconic NZ company. Yes, definitely a party and a great big thank you to Neil and his crew. The Town Hall rocked to its foundations.
Configured more as a rock venue-cum-nightclub, the setting featured a large catwalk (or perhaps showcase-platform-up-the-centre-of-the-floor might be a more apt description), some video-screens on stage towering over DJ Manuel Bundy, with gantries and creative lighting overhead and Anonymouz’s creative soundscape emanating artfully from every corner of the room. The audience was split between those constantly moving excitedly on the floor around the catwalk and those seated upstairs – didn’t see too much jewellery being rattled though.
Things started slowly (well relatively anyway) acknowledging some of the company’s early work, its strong links to Pasifika and its dance heritage. But then hip hop artist Tha Feelstyle, and drag phenomenon Buckwheat arrived and things moved swiftly into the now and it was all on. The entire venue became partly a concert venue, partly a nightclub and partly a showcase. Even the NZ Trio, the mighty Town Hall organ and the staff became part of the show.
It was therefore highly appropriate that Ieremia took the final bow himself, decked out in a rather splendid white frock-coat.
Auckland was treated to a contemporaneous expression of something of which all our performing arts can be proud. of and this delirious audience of the faithful, the believers and the acknowledgers participated in something that could readily grace any stage in the world. One might say – as one of New Zealand’s finest tariff-free exports.
So Neil, thank you for the thank you. Even this rather hoary old correspondent was definitely up and bopping at the end.
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