Raewyn Hill, artistic director of Dancenorth, recently spent two weeks at Tasdance as part of Tasdance Residency by Invitation Only (TRIO). Nina Levy spoke to Hill and Tasdance artistic director, Annie Greig, to find out about how such exchanges benefit dance companies.
This is the second residency that Hill has completed with Tasdance and it allowed her to continue building material for Abandon, a collaboration between Dancenorth and Opera Queensland that will premiere in July 2013. “It’s certainly slightly colder than Townsville,” observes Hill drily. “But the concentrated time delivered some fantastic results in terms of the artistic output – I was very happy with what we were able to create in the two weeks.”
Hill is enthusiastic about the benefits of this kind of collaboration for the Dancenorth. “We’re working toward a collaboration between the companies in 2014, so the residency allowed us time to fine-tune some of those details,” notes Hill. “Also, at the conclusion of the two weeks we had a studio showing where our dancers Andrew Searle, Alice Hinde and Bradley Chatfield performed some of the material we’d been working on – allowing us to begin to build a profile for Dancenorth within Tasdance’s local audience. A residency is a productive way of strengthening the national profile of the company, and to connect with a new audience.”
It’s a bonus for Tasdance too, says Greig. “The benefits are numerous. One is the opportunity to reconnect with Raewyn from 2007 when she created Mercy: a dance for the forgotten for the company. Another is the chance to pursue a collaborative project with Dancenorth and being in the same place to tease out some of the details of that project for 2014. It also allows Tasdance Friends and supporters to see other work and dancers and hear about another regionally based company and the work Dancenorth undertake.”
With mutual benefits it’s not surprising that the two companies intend to continue the relationship. “Annie and I are working toward a collaborative project in 2014, which is a great way for us to share our resources and provide further employment for the dancers in each company. And there is definitely scope for a regional residency program, and maybe something that the two companies can develop in the future.”
Alice Hinde. Photo: Raewyn Hill.