WENDY REIN Co-Artistic Director
A native New Yorker, Wendy has been dancing and breaking furniture since age 3. With a BA from Brown University, she brings over 20 years of professional experience in the field to her work as a performer, choreographer producer, curator, and teacher. She worked with Misnomer Dance Theater before moving to San Francisco, where Wendy co-founded RAWdance with Ryan Smith and had the privilege of performing with Amy Seiwert, ODC/Dance, Deborah Slater, Alma Esperanza Cunningham, Nancy Karp, Mary Carbonara, and Todd Eckert, among many others. She also worked for seven years both in front of the camera and behind the scenes on a series of dance film projects with RJ Muna. Wendy moved to NY’s Hudson Valley in 2019 as the company expanded to two locations.
RYAN T. SMITH Co-Artistic Director
Ryan is a queer dance-maker, performer, curator, and connector. A Co-Founder of RAWdance, he has served as Co-Artistic Director since 2004, creating dozens of works for stage, alternative locations, and film with creative partner Wendy Rein. As a dancer, he has performed for artists such as Amy Seiwert, Alma Esperanza Cunningham, and Stephen Pelton. He was a member of the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company from 2005-2016, touring nationally and internationally, and participating in several collaborations with artists and organizations in Kochin, Kolkata, Guangzhou, and Jerusalem. Originally from outside of Boston, MA, Ryan received his B.A. in Theatre Arts and French Literature from Brown University before moving to San Francisco. In 2019, after 16 years in the Bay, he moved his primary residence to High Falls, a small hamlet in New York’s Hudson Valley.
Staff
MARQUIS ENGLE Managing Director
Marquis Engle (He/They) is a dynamic Artist and Storyteller with a knack for social science. With a background in visual art, design and fashion, his approach to non-profit management and development is more radical than traditional. Integrity, innovation and initiative are three values that guide his decision making processes. Marquis has served across the non-profit, education, and art sectors as Program Director for Booker T. Washington Community Service Center; spokesperson for the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy; TEDx keynote speaker as a social activist for HIV awareness and prevention; and consultant for Flourish Agenda, the SF Human Rights Coalition, and the Malonga Arts Collective. When not working at the RAWdance office at Intersection for the Arts you can find him dancing and performing with Diamano Coura West African Dance Company as their principal male dancer.
MEGAN KURASHIGE CONCEPT series Coordinator & Co-Curator
Megan is a San Francisco based dancer and choreographer. She works with her sister, Shannon Kurashige, on wild collaborative projects as the co-directors and co-choreographers of Sharp & Fine. She also performs with Liss Fain Dance, where she has been a company member since 2010. She previously worked with choreographers Christian Burns (burnsWORK), Alex Ketley (The Foundry), and Amy Seiwert, and performed with Ballet Pacifica and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal. She studied at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance under the direction of Summer Lee Rhatigan and the Academy of Ballet under the direction of Richard Gibson. She is also a writer. Her fiction has appeared in various magazines and anthologies and she is a graduate of the 2008 Clarion Writers’ Workshop at UCSD.
TWYLA MALCHOW-HAY Production & Program Manager
Twyla is a queer, Berkeley based dance artist, bodyworker, and arts administrator. Originally from Portland, OR, she has lived in the Bay for five years after graduating from Chapman University with a BFA in Dance Performance. While in the Bay, she’s been actively evolving a multi-media creative practice. She previously worked with Cookie Harrist, Chani Bockwinkel, Ishan (Armineh Astanbous & Rachael Sharkland), Byb Chanel Bibene, and on film for Madeline Kenney, Jess Bozzo, and others. Beyond performing and arts administration, Twyla is trained as a Responsive Body practitioner under the guidance of Holly Johnston, offers bodywork through the Bay Area, and is training to become a birth and postpartum doula.
Photo by Hillary Goidell