It’s been a long time coming, but it’s finally official - West Australia is about to form a flagship contemporary dance company. And last week the person to lead that company was also announced: Raewyn Hill, currently the director of Dance North in Townsville.
Hill has outstanding credentials. A graduate of the New Zealand School of Dance, she has been leading Dancenorth for the past five years. In that time the company has been nominated in the Australian Dance Awards for Best Company (Abandon, 2014), Services to Education (2013) and Best Community and Education Program (Small Dances/Big Stories, 2013). In 2013, Hill was also recognised in the Top 50 Most Influential People in North Queensland and was made a Queensland Cultural Champion by the Queensland Government. In 2012, Ms Hill received a Helpmann Award nomination for Best Ballet or Dance Work for her creation MASS.
The Contemporary Dance Company of WA, as the new company is called, will be formed by combining the two youth companies, Buzz Dance Theatre and STEPS Youth Dance Company. The primary focus of the new company will be its professional adult ensemble but, true to its heritage, the company will also have a youth ensemble and education arm. The company will commence full operations in early 2015.
In the meantime, Dancenorth has announced it will not be seeking a full-time replacement for Hill. Instead it will appoint “three eminent and nationally renown dance practitioners who will advise the company on its artistic pathway”. Guest choreographers will be invited to work with the company. Dancenorth’s chair, Trevor Goldstone, while thanking Hill for her contribution, said he hopes the new structure will “create opportunities for audience development as more internationally recognised choreographers present a diverse range of works, which will be particularly beneficial to Townsville”.