RAWdance Residencies

RAWdance

In 2014-2015, the dance department enjoyed a series of short residencies with the professional dance company RAWdance. This project, supported in part by the Gaudino Fund, provided pedagogical and artistic enrichment for the dance department, and allowed a deeper impact on the students than a single guest performance would have.

Formed in 2004, RAWdance aims to perform works which expose an intimate, honest core, the essence of our relationships and identities. Committed to driven, visceral movement, the company explores the power and vulnerability of the human body. RAWdance, envisioned by co-founders Ryan T. Smith and Wendy Rein, strives to craft pieces balancing dance with theatrical elements and athletic movement with intellectual themes.

RAWdance set a special version of their work “Two x 24” for Williams Dance Dept. in January of 2015. This piece was performed in various venues across campus during Claiming Williams Day. Earlier in the fall the artists came to campus over several days and made a new work for the members of CoDa. That new work, still untitled, premiered in the CoDa spring show April 24 and 25 in the AMT. Smith and Rein also performed their duet, “After 5:00” (on the role of alcohol abuse in intimate relationships) as guest performers on the CoDa April concert.