Biography

Raewyn Hill spent her childhood in the smaller towns of the South Island of New Zealand.  She left home young, being accepted into New Zealand School of Dance at the age of 15, graduating from the School in 1992 with the Best All Round Student Award.  She was subsequently named on the distinguished Honours Board in recognition of her commitment to dance in New Zealand.

Over an 18-year career Raewyn became one of New Zealand's foremost contemporary dance-theatre practitioners. She has received numerous awards and endless accolades from critics and audiences throughout Australasia throughout her professional career as an artist. No stranger to the Australian Dance scene, she has worked with Sue Healy and toured with Gary Stewart's company THWACK in the original Plastic Space. Her widely acclaimed solo show When Love Comes Calling was a sell-out season at the Sydney Opera House Studio Theatre with standing room tickets only available.

In 2001 she established Soapbox Productions as a vehicle for her growing choreographic voice.  The company toured consistently throughout New Zealand and developed eight critically acclaimed full-length works, When Love Comes Calling, White, Night, Angels with Dirty Feet, Here lies within, We are gathered here today, A dance for the forgotten and Finders Keepers alongside several smaller commissioned works, notably Nest, Trio 1 and 2, How ugly is the duckling,  In time of Flight and Forgotten for Footnote Dance Company, Hanging between heaven and earth for New Zealand School of Dance, An ocean of tears for Royal New Zealand Ballet, Vespers, Til Death do us Part for Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.

Raewyn retired from performing in 2006 following a successful tour of her solo show We are gathered here today.  This enabled the transformation of Soapbox Productions into her new Company ‘Raewyn Hill and Dancers' where she was CEO, Artistic Director and Choreographer. Her husband Richard Longbottom (NZSD Graduate '99, ex Royal New Zealand Ballet) was Associate Director, Artistic Advisor and Rehearsal Director.

Raewyn has appeared as a guest teacher and choreographer for a number of institutions including Royal New Zealand Ballet, Footnote Dance Company, New Zealand School of Dance, Unitec Performing Arts School, Bei Jing Dance Academy, Western Australia Performing Arts, Tasdance, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts where she was Artist in Residence 2007 - 2009, School of Dance and most recently Bolshoi Ballet Academy, Moscow.

Commercially she has appeared as a dancer on Xena, The Warrior Princess and the BBC's ‘The lost world'. In 2006 she was invited to be the choreographer for the TVNZ series ‘Rude Awakenings' as well as advise the producers for the New Zealand version of ‘So you think you can dance'. In 2008 and 2009 she provided the entertainment for the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens in the form of a photography exhibition and live performance.

Raewyn premiered a new contemporary dance work Vespers at the inaugural Asia Pacific Dance Platform, as a part of the 37th Hong Kong Arts Festival in February 2009.  The inclusion of her work in one of the world's premier Arts Festivals signalled a landmark in her career. Continuing to build her international profile, Raewyn is the first New Zealander to be awarded a prestigious Cite International des Arts residency in Paris;  from August - September 2009.  As well, the Bolshoi Ballet Academy invited Raewyn to set Vespers on the Academy in November 2009, and the work will premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow in May 2010.

In April 2009 Raewyn Hill and Dancers premiered a new full-length work Finders Keepers, supported by Creative New Zealand at the Festival of Colour, Wanaka. Finders Keepers was performed at Christchurch Arts Festival 2009.

Raewyn was appointed in the role of Artistic Director of Dancenorth in Queensland, Australia, January 2010. Raewyn and Dancenorth been invited to be resident at Baryshnikov Arts Centre, New York City, September 2010. She will return to New York to create a new work for New York's prestigious performing arts conservatoire The Juilliard School in Nov/Dec 2010.