Jack Gray is a New Zealand choreographer, researcher and teacher of contemporaryMāori dance.
Gray was born in 1977 inTe Atatu Peninsula, Auckland, New Zealand. He affiliates to the MāoriiwiTe Rarawa,Ngāpuhi andNgāti Porou.[1] He studied atUnitec completing the performing and screen arts bachelor's degree in 1998. Later in 2004 he did a diploma of computer graphic design at Natcoll Design Technology New Zealand.[1] He lives and works in Auckland.
Gray foundedAtamira Dance Company withLouise Potiki Bryant in 2000.[2] Gray also started his own dance company called Jack Gray Dance. Works created with this company includeView From the Gods that was in theTempo Dance Festival in 2006 andTuawhenua which had a season atBATS Theatre in 2008 featuring dancers Shannon Mutu and Nancy Wijohn and a combination of electronic music with traditional Māori instruments performed by Charlotte90 and Alistair Fraser.[3][4]
In 2012 Gray choreographedMoko for the Atamira Dance Company.[5]
He was appointed artistic director of Atamira Dance Company in 2018 following on fromMoss Paterson.[6][7] In 2015 after five years of research Atamira presentedMitimiti created by Gray. It was performed in the round at Q Theatre in Auckland and brought in stories of other indigenous peoples alongside Māori including Australia, Guåhan (Guam), and the Kiowa People (Oklahoma).[8][9][10]
Gray has travelled for his work and research and has collaborated with other dancers in the United States, especially withqueer or indigenous focus, including: Dancing Earth Creations (New Mexico),Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum (Hawai‘i),University of California, Riverside and theUniversity of California, Berkeley.[10][11]
Te Wheke is the new work for 2021 programmed in theKia Mau Festival in Wellington andASB Waterfront Theatre, Auckland. It is the 21st birthday production for Atamira and in the creation includes dance practitioners Jack Gray, Sean MacDonald,Taane Mete, Kelly Nash,Dolina Wehipeihana, Gabrielle Thomas,Kura Te Ua,Bianca Hyslop and Louise Potiki Bryant.[12][13]