New Zealand’s leading contemporary dance group, Black Grace, will perform in Goldstein Auditorium in the Schine Student Center on Monday at 8 p.m.

The core company is comprised of four full-time dancers: Zoe Watkins, Sean MacDonald, Thomas Fonua and Abby Crowther. Since its founding in 1995, Black Grace has been involved in the world of contemporary dance with tour sites spanning all over the globe.

The Office of Student Activities organized the event on behalf of the Pulse Performing Arts Program, which brings performing arts groups to Syracuse University.

“I hope people will come to see how different Black Grace really is,” said Sarah Cappella, the associate director of the Office of Student Activities.

Cappella said there’s a reason Pulse went transpacific for the event — Black Grace is “contemporary with a twist,” a quality that artistic director and founder Neil Ieremia attempts to express in his dance numbers.

Cappella added that the performance is likely to feature four short works — Minoi, Pati Pati, Mother Mother and Method — as well as the full-length piece Gathering Clouds, which incorporates everything from traditional Samoan choreography to movements inspired by the work of Bruce Lee.

Jaylyn Noble, a member of the Pulse Advisory Board, said how interesting it was to watch the Samoan director “take advantage of his own culture and incorporate it into his dances.”

Noble, a senior political science major, said the physical and long, meticulous movements are something — even as a frequent choreographer of university performances — she had never seen before.

Cappella said she and the other members of the Pulse Advisory Board were enticed by Black Grace in particular because it draws from the director’s indigenous roots.

Pulse worked with Black Grace’s North American agent, Rena Shagen, for past events. She has represented several other esteemed dance companies over the years, including Martha Graham and Lar Lubovitch, who has been deemed “one of the 10 best choreographers in the world” by The New York Times. Many of these companies are frequent guests of the university and, as Cappella said, have all been “highly professional and well-received.”

Cappella and Noble both raved about the ease at which the group acclimated to the proportions of Goldstein Auditorium when they arrived in Syracuse Saturday. Black Grace is fond of using props and fly space — a high backdrop above the stage in which a makeshift pulley system is utilized to lift the dancers. Spectators can also look forward to traditional South Pacific music as well as raw, provocative choreography laden with fantastical acrobatic feats.

Said Noble: “It’s an honor because Black Grace has toured in Japan, South Korea and hundreds of other amazing venues.”

Published on February 8, 2015 at 11:54 pm

Contact Ali: amerrill@syr.edu