Jack Gray

(Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa)

Artistic Director 

Born in Auckland, Aotearoa, Jack Gray is a world class recognised Māori contemporary dancer, choreographer, teacher, facilitator and writer. He is a founding member and became Artistic Director of Atamira Dance Company in 2018.

His independent arts practice spans two decades and has taken him all over the world where he engages with diverse audiences in community-centred spaces of Indigenous knowledge exchange, such as Cultural Informance Lab (California), Transformance Lab (New York), I Moving Lab (USA, Australia, NZ), Indigenous Dance Forum (New York), I LAND (Hawaii, Seattle, Portland, Chicago, New York), Intentional Indigenous Artform Exchange (New York) and more. He was a Visiting Assistant Professor at University of California Riverside, Artist in Residence at New York University’s Asian/Pacific/American Institute, Regent’s Scholar at UCLA/World Arts and Cultures. Jack has published writings in Dance Europe Magazine, Danz magazine, Theatreview, Te Kaharoa and Biography. Jack has produced interdisciplinary works for the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum (Hawaii), Berkeley Dance Project (UC Berkeley), FestPAC (Guåhan/Guam), Yirramboi Festival (Narrm/ Melbourne), Festival 2018 (Gold Coast), Te Whainga (Auckland Museum/Smithsonian Museum) and more.

Jack creatively devises Indigenous approaches towards enhanced relationships between place, people and potential. He has been invited as a cultural ambassador with Dancing Earth (New Mexico), International Interdisciplinary Artist Consortium (Massachusetts), First Nations Colloqium (South Africa), Kaha:wi Dance Theatre (Canada), University of the Arts (Philadelphia), Blakdance (Australia). Another ongoing platform is Movement for Joy, a class that is inclusive to all, which looks at joy and authentic embodiment as an opportunity to dynamically connect more productively with the self and others.