As Dancenorth prepares to remount its critically-acclaimed production, MASS, Nina Levy catches up with the company’s artistic director, Raewyn Hill.
There’s no doubting that Raewyn Hill, artistic director of Dancenorth, is happy with her life choices. “I made the decision [to pursue a career in dance] when I was 6 years old and there hasn’t been any question about pursing a different career in the 34 years that dance has been part of my every day,” she remarks. “My background was strictly classical ballet, so I have a deep connection and admiration for the art form. I ended up having an incredible career as a contemporary dancer and choreographer, traveling the world and I am very thankful and lucky for that.”
The New Zealand-born and trained choreographer has not only worked extensively in Australia, but around the world. “My career has always involved travel," she says. “Since starting to work professionally in 1996 I was lucky to have many opportunities that allowed me to travel and live in different parts of the world. Usually these would be for around 3 – 4 months at a time. My longest stint was Hong Kong in 2007 – 2009.” As well as Hong Kong, Hill has worked in Paris, New York and Beijing. “Usually [when I work overseas] I have a commission, which means that someone will either buy an existing piece of repertoire or commission me to create a new one,” she explains. “I also teach, conduct workshops, masterclasses and take part in panel discussions and forums or make presentations.”
Hill came to Dancenorth in 2010 and she is still relishing the joys of life in the tropics. “Queensland life is fantastic, those early morning sunrises and the gorgeous tropical climate all year round," she enthuses. "We have our own ‘home’ in Townsville, which means the company has an incredible, beautiful studio/theatre to go to every day.”
In terms of Dancenorth, Hill relishes the challenges of balancing the company’s responsibilities to the local community with its position as a high profile contemporary dance company. “When I arrived [at Dancenorth], the vision was three-fold, connecting locally, regionally and nationally. So, the immediate emphasis was on re-connecting the company with the local community," she recalls. "My initial job was to try to find ways to re-establish a feeling of local ownership, after that it was to create key partnerships within the region… for example CoCA, Cairns, AFCM, The Arts Centre Gold Coast.”
Once that ground-work was done, it was time to look further afield. “As I have spent more time with the company, a feel for its place within the wider Australian dance landscape has evolved and now my vision has turned to negotiating the fine balance between a regionally responsive company and one that also presents world-class contemporary dance, not just locally but throughout Australia and internationally,” says Hill.
Right now, Dancenorth has its local hat on as it prepares to remount Hill’s 2011 work MASS in its hometown. Hill made MASS in response to the unprecedented number of natural disasters that had happened in the 12 months prior to its creation, both in Queensland and overseas. The work focuses on the way in which communities respond to such intense experiences. “MASS explores a number of communities, such as prisoners of war, Australia’s Stolen Generation, aspects of the Islamic community, and communities in protest,” says Hill. “The dancers traverse and descend in and out of the space, forming and dissipating communities as they come and go, with each ‘scene’ dealing with an aspect of the creative team’s research abstracted through dance theatre.”
For Hill, making work around social issues is important. “I like to make work that has some relevance, whether it is based on or involve a specific community in society, or trigger questions around a particular social issue,” she notes. “And underlying this attempt at relevance, I like to address topics that are not necessarily spoken about in the everyday; to bring attention to topics that people may avoid in their everyday conversations.”
A huge part of the success of MASS is down to the dancers, according to Hill. “The Dancenorth dancers are an incredible, generous, caring and committed group who believe in what we are trying to achieve here," she proclaims. "They move their lives from other parts of the country to live in a regional community and commit to a vision bigger than themselves and I have a great respect for that. The dancers give their absolute all in this work and after each rehearsal and show I am in complete awe of their total commitment to the process and the work.”
MASS plays the School of Arts, Townsville, 18-20 April.
Raewyn Hill. Photo: Naomi Lee.
