In 2004, after 6 years of collaboration both as dance partners and choreographers, Ryan T. Smith and Wendy Rein formed RAWdance with the mission to create works that expose an intimate, honest core - the essence of our relationships, sexuality, and identities. With a focus on the human body and its place in society, RAWdance has pursued new approaches to performance, working both inside and outside the security of traditional dance venues. Committed to driven, visceral movement, the company strives to craft pieces balancing dance with theatrical elements and athletic movement with intellectual themes. Rachel Howard, of the San Francisco Chronicle, has called the company "sexy and solid." Rita Felciano of the San Francisco Bay Guardian exclaimed the company's work for the WestWave Dance Festival 2006 "exemplified the vitality of local dance."

Since forming RAWdance, Ryan and Wendy have created 15 new works for the company, including four full-length pieces; they have showcased their choreography throughout San Francisco at venues including ODC Theater, Project Artaud Theater, Dance Mission Theater, Union Square Park (for the Jewels in the Square series), Jon Sims Center for the Arts (including an AIRspace residency in spring 2005), CounterPULSE (including a Winter Artists residency, 2005-2006), and in New York City at the Alvin Ailey Studios, Spoke the Hub, and Williamsburg Arts Nexus. With funding from the Zellerbach Family Foundation, San Francisco Arts Commission, and CA$H Program of Theatre Bay Area, RAWdance has chosen to use alternative spaces for several of the company's home seasons, such as the Center for Sex and Culture in 2005 and the Belcher Street Studios gallery in 2006. Blurring the lines around traditional performance, this has also allowed the company to reach new audiences and develop a community following. Furthering efforts to involve and engage a community base, in December 2007, the company launched the biannual CONCEPT series, an informal and intimate salon of contemporary dance, at the James Howell Studio in San Francisco. The series focuses on accessibility, showcasing works by some of the city's most talented professional dance artists in a casual environment complete with coffee and snacks.

RAWdance recently began a three-year residency at ODC Theater, one of the premiere centers for dance in San Francisco. After a busy 2008, including our fourth annual home season at CounterPULSE, the CONCEPT series 2 & 3, and a short East coast tour to New York and Washington D.C., the company kicked off 2009 with our international debut at the Singapore Fringe Festival. Dates for the 2009 CONCEPT series are May 2-3 and September 5-6. RAWdance is also headed back to Union Square Park on July 12 for Jewels in the Square, and planning a fifth anniversary home season in December.

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© RAWdance, 2005 = Header image by RJ Muna