Concrete Playground

Following a sell out tour of Germany, Black Grace’s place as a world leading exponent of Pacific contemporary dance will be further cemented when Waka has its Auckland debut later this month.

Exploring the idea of a raft as a metaphor for hope, Waka is inspired in part by The Raft, video installation by Bill Viola, as well as a response to The Arrival of the Maoris in New Zealand by Louis J. Steele and Charles F. Goldie's work 1898, which was in turn influenced by Theodore Gericault’s The Raft of the Medusa depicting the terror of a shipwreck.

Celebrated choreographer Neil Ieremia has taken the original 35 minute Waka performance and developed it for New Zealand audiences into 60 minutes of pure physicality and beauty. If you like contemporary dance, this is definintely one not to miss.