Dianne Reid is a performer, choreographer, camera operator, video editor, writer and educator. She has created dance for a range of live and screen contexts. Hipsync is her dance video production company established in 2002. Dianne has created over 50 screendance works, many of which have screened internationally.
Dianne trained in Adelaide in Communication Studies (Drama), then a BA Dance under David and Simi Roche (South Australian College of Advanced Education). In 2001 she completed a Master of Arts in Screendance at Deakin University. She was a founding member of Outlet Dance in Adelaide (1987–89) and a member of Danceworks from 1990–95 under the direction of Helen Herbertson and Beth Shelton. Between 1996-2004 Dianne was Associate Lecturer in contemporary dance, physical theatre and dance video at Deakin University. In addition, she has been a guest teacher and/or choreographer for VCA, WAAPA, Chunky Move, Dancehouse and Australian Dance Theatre. From 2004-2006 she was Artistic Director of Dancehouse, Melbourne’s centre for independent contemporary dance, during which time she introduced the Grad Lab, Dance Path, Dance Flicks and The Joker seasons. She also secured additional support for the organisation through the Rotary Youth Arts Project (Rotary Clubs, City of Yarra and VicHealth) and triennial funding from the Australia Council. In 2006/7 she choreographed the full-length work Unfixed during her Asialink residency in India. She has returned to India to teach and collaborate with Mallika Sarabhai and the Darpana company regularly since then. Another recurring collaboration with Swedish dancer/choreographer Ami Skånberg Dahlstedt began with a residency in Lapland, Sweden, in 2009 also collaborating with Japanese dancer Heidi S. Durning to create the work Wolfcoffee (Vargkaffe).
Dianne has worked with a number of differently-abled artists since 2010, creating short films for Weave Movement Theatre, Uberdance, OSCA, and Melinda Smith, a dance artist living with cerebral palsy. Melinda and Dianne have an ongoing shared improvisational practice, have performed together in India (2011 & 12) and Sweden (2012) and the full-length performance Unbecoming at the 2014 Melbourne Fringe Festival. In mid 2018 Dianne completed the dance documentary Nothing but bones in the way about her collaboration with Melinda, which won the Best Dance Film award at the 15th Annual ReelHeART International Film and Screenplay Festival in Toronto, Canada.
Dianne received high acclaim for her solo work Dance Interrogations at both the Adelaide Fringe (nominated for ‘Best Dance’ Award) and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals in 2012. This work initiated her creative practice Doctorate completed in 2016. In 2019 Dianne premiered the solo performance work Cabin Fever which received 5-star reviews and won the Adelaide Fringe Bank SA Weekly Award for Best Dance at both the 2019 and 2020 Adelaide Fringe Festivals. Since returning to Adelaide in 2018 Dianne has received several artist residencies and film commissions from Dance Hub SA, Tasdance, Australian Dance Theatre, and The Mill.
Since 2020 Dianne has also been an Adelaide based tour guide for Guru Dudu Silent Disco Walking Tours.