In 2004, after 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.

Since forming RAWdance, Ryan and Wendy have created 17 new works for the company, including four full-length pieces. Currently an artist-in-residence at ODC Theater, one of the premiere centers for dance on the West Coast, the company is also supported by a 2010 Choreographers in Mentorship Exchange (CHIME) award, a project of the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company. RAWdance has held previous residencies at CounterPULSE (Winter Artists Residency, 2005-2006) and Jon Sims Center for the Arts (AIRspace residency in spring 2005) and has shown work in Chicago, IL, Providence, RI, Washington DC, and NYC's Joyce SoHo, WAX, and Spoke the Hub, as well as throughout San Francisco. In 2009, RAWdance created Fallout for its international debut at the Singapore Fringe Festival, with help from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation's USArtists International program.

In addition to performing in conventional spaces, RAWdance has presented work in many nontraditional venues in San Francisco in an effort to bring dance directly into the public sphere. The company has brought full-scale dance to the Center for Sex and Culture community space (Scripting Intimacies, 2005), the Belcher Street Studios art gallery (Per-Verses, 2006), Union Square Park (CheckBox, 2007, and To Have and to Hold, 2009), and San Francisco's downtown Westfield mall (The Beauty Project, 2009). In 2010, RAWdance was honored as a finalist in SF Weekly's Masterminds Awards for its focus on the use of alternative spaces.

Furthering efforts to inspire dialogue and 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 San Francisco's James Howell Studio. 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, popcorn, and snacks. The CONCEPT series has presented works by 30 guest artists and companies to date in addition to RAWdance.

RAWdance's performance activities have been made possible through generous support from The Kenneth Rainin Foundation, Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, Zellerbach Family Foundation with the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, CA$H, a grants program of Theatre Bay Area, in partnership with Dancers' Group, San Francisco Arts Commission, CHIME, and many presenting organizations.

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© RAWdance, 2005 = Header image by RJ Muna