Repertory |
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A RETROSPECTIVE 60 minutes plus
MINOI (1999) 5 minutes
Minoi is about the fusion of a traditional Samoan dance style known as Fa’ataupati (slap dance) and western contemporary dance as a means of exploring cultural identity issues. The traditional Samoan dance culture utilises live singing and vocalisations which I have also incorporated into this work by re-arranging a traditional Samoan song and combining it with a popular western tune remembered from Ieremia’s childhood.
Music: Minoi Minoi (traditional Samoan song), re-arranged by Neil Ieremia
OBJECTS (2004) 15 minutes
Premiering at Jacobs Pillow in 2004, Objects explores themes of cultural displacement and dislocation. The original idea for the work was in inspired by the poem A Journey Towards Blue written by Samoan writer SiaFigiel. The movement vocabulary is an abstraction of the narrative that tracks the story of a Samoan family taken from their village in Samoa (circa 1904) and displayed in a Zoo in Germany, as part of the “Human Zoo” phenomenon popular in Europe in the late 1800s. Since making this work in 2003-2004, more research material and resources have become available. In revisiting Objects, Ieremia hopes to reflect the impact of this information in this new version.
PATI PATI (2009) 10 minutes
This work is a mixture of excerpts from older repertoire that utilise body percussion influenced by traditional Samoan Sasa (seated dance) and Fa’ataupati (slap dance). Movement segments, dance phrases and motifs have evolved from past full-length works, including; Relentless, inspired by children’s hand games as well as gestures taken from personal stories about child abuse (1998); the self-titled debut season Black Grace, a work exploring male stereotyping in the Pacific (1995); Fia Ola, a piece about the challenges Pacific Islanders face when they leave their traditional homes to settle in New Zealand (1998); and Amata, a work choreographed for 12 women (2007).
Music: Original music from Surface, by Neil Ieremia and Juse of Woodcut Productions
AMATA ACT 3 - A NEW BEGINNING 20 minutes
The compositional structure and floor patterns are based on a traditional weaving pattern found in Samoan fine mats made from flax called “ie toga.” This work also acknowledges the importance of change. Amata, Act 3 is fast and rhythmically rich with a soundtrack featuring music by New Zealand composer Jack Body and rare traditional Polynesian recordings.
WAKA working title, duration TBC
Currently in development, “Waka” (the Maori word for canoe) is inspired by the painting “The arrival of Maori” by Louis J. Steele and Charles F. Goldie 1898 based on Theodore Géricault's famous ‘The Raft of the Medusa’, which depicts the terror of a shipwreck, this is one of New Zealand’s best-known historical paintings. Waka will explore traditional navigation practices, migration rituals and ceremonies of leaving, personal stories of migration, the impact of a new environment on traditional cultural practice and how a new generation is successfully straddling the past and present.
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