stage


GRACE: DANCE


BLACK UNBOUND


by joel martens 50 RAGE monthly | MARCH 2017


They say that music is the universal language. It’s inherent to all human condi- tions and a language that shares stunning commonalities, no matter what place you inhabit on the globe. Another expression we share as humans? We dance. Drop yourself anywhere on this diverse planet,


no matter how remote and you will find some form of dance movement. It may not be on a gilded stage, or choreographed in the style of a grand, classical ballet, but it will be there. The gift of joyous abandon to physical movement, engaging rhythms formed by sinew and bone, as compelling be they in a discotheque, just beyond the proscenium or around a jungle fire. In whatever form, it is a beautiful thing. Some may be better-equipped to execute the


ritual, indeed, some spend their entire lives perfecting it. Classical ballet offers a certain kind


of beauty through controlled, physical perfection and modern dance seeks to break free of those bonds, creating a genre of ecstatic expression that is in many ways, limitless. Movement imbued with richness culled from unique cultures and traditions, creations for which innovation is the paradigm. Black Grace, founded in 1995 by Neil Ieremia,


is one of those groundbreaking troupes filling the world’s stages with dances that reach across social, cultural and generational barriers. Exceptionally physical, filled with intense beauty and raw power, their work is drawn from the company’s Samoan, Māori, Tongan and New Zealander roots. It is unlike anything you have ever seen and will have you entranced from the moment you set eyes on them. Sean McDonald has been with Black Grace since


its start, beginning he says as an all-male troupe of ten in one of Auckland’s old library halls. His career beginning almost by accident at 15 when


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