Black Grace Dance Company, one of New Zealand's most prominent modern dance troupes, comes to Hawai'i after a successful three weeks at New York's historic New Victory Theatre.

The group made an impressive U.S. debut in summer 2004 at the prestigious Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts and was invited back there this summer, performing to standing-room-only audiences.

While in New York, Neil Ieremia, artistic director, founder and choreographer of Black Grace, and dancer Sean MacDonald shared by phone some thoughts about dance and the company.

The company is an all-male group, although on this tour three female "guest artists" perform alongside the group's six male dancers. Ieremia explains, "When I started Black Grace in 1995 I wanted to express the way I felt as a male growing up in New Zealand. Growing up where I did, there was always the issue of 'real men don't dance.' "

MacDonald, of Maori ancestry and a member of the company since its beginning, adds, "It's pretty much been about the group from the start, and the audiences get that. It's very cohesive. We were all friends and peers, although there were different levels of experience."

The name of the company might be somewhat ironic, as New Zealand's renowned rugby team is called the All Blacks. On the other hand, "black" in New Zealand also carries the connotation of "the bravest, the most daring."

Born in New Zealand of Samoan parents, Ieremia includes both traditional Samoan and Maori elements in his choreography, emphasizing the masculine aspects of dance. But make no mistake, his is not merely a Polynesian fusion style but rather fundamentally modern dance, with its weightedness and urge to give in to gravity, its rolling, jumping, lunging motions, its lifts and rebounds and its complex spatial configurations.

The dances include themes and movements found in traditional Samoan slapping dances (Fa'ataupati), Maori and Samoan warrior dances, and symbols of Samoan tattoo images (Fa'a Ulutao). The work is simultaneously athletic and raucous, harmonious and gentle. These men dance like warriors with their wide-legged stances, feet smacking the ground and arms slicing the air. They prove that, indeed, real men do dance.

Asked if he had any role models to inspire him, Ieremia, a graduate of the Auckland Performing Arts School, says, "Of course I had studied about Ted Shawn (a pioneer in American dance who founded an all-male dance company in 1933 and Jacob's Pillow in the early '30s) and others, but we were very isolated, and I think that was a blessing in disguise." This isolation allowed Ieremia to follow his own path, creating original, nonderivative dances.

On Ieremia's choreography, MacDonald says, "Neil's work is very physical, from the gut. It's like a burning firewall. There's a lot of rhythm work but put into a contemporary context."

About the Hawai'i program, Ieremia said, "I myself have very eclectic taste in dance and music. We will try to show the range of work the company has, starting with the more traditional and evolving to the modern."

Musical accompaniment includes clapping, chanting, singing in three-part harmony, and compositions by Chico Hamilton, J.S. Bach and Terry Riley.

"This is a good show for all ages, and for people who don't usually go to the theater," MacDonald said. "It's very accessible."