Black Grace’s concert includes “Paradise Rumour.” Courtesy photo

One of New Zealand’s most famous contemporary dance companies, Black Grace, has wowed audiences around the world. The group will return to the Maui Arts & Cultural Center on Sunday.

Acclaimed for blending Pacific, Māori and contemporary dance styles, Black Grace was founded by Neil Ieremia and has established a reputation for bold, beautiful, vigorous dancing.

“I founded Black Grace in 1995 to tell stories through contemporary dance about people who looked like me and come from places and neighborhoods like me,” said Ieremia.

Asked what differentiates Black Grace from most dance companies, he explained, “I think it’s the fusion of contemporary and traditional dance styles in a very unique and physically engaging way.”

Their Maui program will open with “Kiona and the Little Bird Suite” to the music of Te Vaka, a collection of traditionally inspired works and excerpts from Black Grace’s repertoire over the last three decades. This work utilizes body percussion influenced by traditional Samoan Sasa (seated dance) and Fa’ataupati (slap dance).

“Kiona” will be followed by “Paradise Rumour,” which bounces back and forth through time and space, starting with the arrival of the missionaries to the Pacific and collecting memories, visions and experiences both personal and collective.

It’s an extension of Ieremia’s 2009 work, “Gathering Clouds,” a response to an economist’s controversial paper, “Growing Pains: The valuation and cost of human capital and the impact of Pacific migration on the New Zealand economy.” Ieremia explained in the program notes that the “controversial claims caused significant hurt within the Pacific Island community in Aotearoa, while emboldening those with more xenophobic views.”

“Handgame” was choreographed in 1995 as part of “Relentless,” one of Ieremia’s earliest full-length works, which was based on child abuse. The creative process for this work began with company members sharing stories of abuse from their childhoods.

“It changes with the cast, and that’s the beauty of live performance art; it’s always changing,” said Ieremia. “I’m not one of those choreographers who’s absolutely wedded to the original version. Art is like life; it’s always evolving and changing.”

About the company’s finale, the momentous new work “If Ever There Was A Time” (abridged), Ieremia said in the program notes, “I consider myself a hopeful optimist. Like many Pacific Islanders, I was raised in the church, carried along by its stories, its hymns, its promises. I have been losing my religion for the last 40 years. This work is my response to what I see as the weaponisation of faith, how religious and spiritual belief systems are used to steal from the poor, erase culture and indigenous knowing, shout down freedom of choice, and justify unimaginable brutality. It’s a pattern repeated throughout history. So, if ever there was a time for rebellion, for action, for hope, for humanity, for love – it’s probably now.”

It’s performed to a variety of music, including the British trip hop collective Massive Attack, the Tuareg group Tinariwen, DJ Krush and Mali legends Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diabate.

A choreographer of Western Samoan heritage, Ieremia only started his dance training at the age of 19, when he joined the Auckland Performing Arts School.

Founded in 1995, Black Grace was initially made up of 10 male dancers of Pacific, Māori and New Zealand Pākehā heritage. It remained an all-male company until 2001.

“There was and still is a real declining level of training in contemporary dance and a shortage of skilled male dancers,” Ieremia said. “I had also come to a point where I was really familiar with the male aesthetic and wanted to work with women to explore their physicality in the storytelling space.”

He said he makes art for himself and doesn’t often think too much about how his work might impact audiences.

“It’s an expression of what I’m feeling, my experiences and what I’m hoping for,” he said. “I think that’s one of my jobs as an artist, to reflect what’s going on in society in a creative way, in the hope that it moves people.”

“Black Grace: Paradise Rumour” will be at 7:30 p.m. Sunday in the MACC’s Castle Theater. Tickets are $27 to $67 at mauiarts.org.