Neil Ieremia is a New Zealand choreographer and entrepreneur. He is the founder, artistic director and chief executive of contemporary dance company, Black Grace. In 2016, he was appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have r ...

for services to dance.

Early years

Born and bred in Cannons Creek,

Porirua Porirua, () a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Poriru ...

, and of

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

n descent, Neil Ieremia was raised in a tough working-class neighbourhood located to the North East of

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

. At the age of six, Ieremia was struck with

rheumatic fever Rheumatic fever (RF) is an inflammation#Disorders, inflammatory disease that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain. The disease typically develops two to four weeks after a Streptococcal pharyngitis, streptococcal throat infection. Si ...

which damaged his heart, and meant he couldn't play sports with his friends. That was difficult for a Pacific Island boy living in one of the country's poorest suburbs where boys were expected to be sporty and tough. In this world, Ieremia found solace in dance. Ieremia was thirteen when he choreographed his first group dance for a church youth concert. He really enjoyed the sense of freedom and expression that he was able to experience during that performance and from then on he continued to choreograph and dance Ieremia’s first introduction to professional dance and dancers was when he got a job on a choreographic team that participated in the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

in 1990. From this experience Ieremia was invited to attend the Auckland Performing Arts School that was being established that year. At nineteen, and with no formal training, Ieremia left his job working in a bank and packed up his life in Porirua to move to Auckland. This is where he experienced his first ballet and contemporary classes. In his final year at the Auckland Performing Arts School, Ieremia joined the acclaimed Douglas Wright Dance Company and performed in the major works Gloria, A Far Cry, Forever, How on Earth and Buried Venus. He subsequently worked with many of New Zealand's leading choreographers.

Career

Motivated to provide a different perspective and a fresh voice in the dance scene, Ieremia founded his own company, Black Grace, in 1995, with ten male dancers of Pacific, Maori and New Zealand heritage. Since then he has changed the face of contemporary dance in New Zealand and turned Black Grace into one of the most recognizable and iconic cultural brands. Ieremia draws from his Samoan and New Zealand roots to create innovative dance works that reach across social, cultural and generational barriers. The work itself is highly physical, rich in the storytelling traditions of the South Pacific and expressed with raw finesse, unique beauty and power. Ieremia’s creative concepts are wide-ranging, from something as simple as creating movement to a favourite piece of music, right through to works exploring abuse, colonization and racism. He has also developed a number of different initiatives, which aim to further diversity audiences both nationally and internationally, as well as offer professional development to Company members and opportunities to community groups. Ieremia has had numerous ‘firsts’ for a New Zealand choreographer including sell-out performances at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (USA debut 2004 and 2005), a four-week season on New York City’s 42nd Street, performances at the Cervantino Festival in Mexico, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the 2010

Cultural Olympiad Cultural programmes of the Olympic Games have taken various forms over the years. From 1912 until shortly after the Second World War in 1948, art competitions were held to accompany the Summer Olympics. Since 1952 a series of cultural events has ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. Ieremia has also choreographed work for the

Royal New Zealand Ballet The Royal New Zealand Ballet is a ballet company based in Wellington, New Zealand. It was originally known as The New Zealand Ballet Company. History New Zealand Ballet was established in 1953 as an independent charitable trust by Royal Danis ...

, the

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the New Zealand Government, per the New Zealand Symphony ...

, Opera New Zealand, New Zealand Wearable Arts and the Holland Dance Festival. In 2018 he authored a children's book, Elephantic, and founded and directed a free festival for Pacific artists, The Guerrilla Collection.

Filmography

- 2005 From Cannon’s Creek to Jacob’s Pillow. Documentary - Aileen O'Sullivan's and Toby Mills - 2013 Mother Mother. Music Video - Fat Freddy’s Drop - 2021 Elephantic. Dance film based on the book Elephantic authored by Neil Ieremia and illustrated by Pati Fuiava.

Publications feat Neil Ieremia

- 2006, Insights, New Zealand artists talk about creativity by Gareth Shute - 2008, Dance: The Illustrated History of Dance in New Zealand by Tara Jahn-Werner - 2012, The Power of Us, New Zealanders who dare to dream by Sir Ray Avery, Cameron Bennet & Adrian Malloch - 2017, Leaders Like You, New Zealand leaders share stories of courage, failure and commitment, by Nick Sceats and Andrea Thompson - 2018, Oh Boy, A storybook of Epic NZ Men, by Stuart Lipshaw - 2021, The Reading Tribe by David Riley

References

Acquista, C. (2019, October). Neil Ieremia: The Grace of Resilience. Dance ICONS. Retrieved from http://www.danceicons.org/pages/?p=190927091519 Catherall, S. (2016, June 9) Neil Ieremia: A man full of grace. Stuff. Retrieved from https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/stage-and-theatre/80819486/neil-ieremia-a-man-full-of-grace Husband, D. (2018, May 13) Neil Ieremia: Telling our stories through dance, E. Tangata. Retrieved from https://e-tangata.co.nz/korero/neil-ieremia-telling-our-stories-through-dance/ Neil (n.d). The What Dance Can Do Project. Retrieved from https://thewhatdancecandoproject.com/portfolio/neil/ Neil Ieremia. (n.d). The Arts Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.thearts.co.nz/artists/neil-ieremia

External links

Black Grace website

NZ Herald article 2009

Boston News interview 2004

TVNZ Black Grace documentary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ieremia, Neil Samoan artists New Zealand choreographers Living people People from Wellington City Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit Year of birth missing (living people)