Contemporary Dancers ready to hit road again

Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers will strut their stuff in Toronto and Vancouver next season, signalling that Canada's oldest modern dance company is on the upswing.

Frugal operations allowed WCD to retire its deficit and be removed from "concerned status" by the Manitoba Arts Council this year.

That helped make touring possible again for a 45-year-old troupe that once had a national profile, but has been forced to stay home in recent years.

The four-dancer company will perform Nov. 20 and 21 at the home venue of Toronto Dance Theatre, which is assisting WCD as a presenter.

It will then dance Dec. 2, 4, 5, 9, 11 and 12 at the home venue of Vancouver's EDAM dance company.

The tour's mixed repertoire will include shortened versions of two works by artistic director Brent Lott: an 18-minute version of last year's critically acclaimed Struck and a 15-minute excerpt from Between the Sycamore, which Lott showed as a work in progress in January, and will present here as a completed work next May.

Also on the tour program will be a piece by WCD founder Rachel Browne, a duet by LeSandra Dodson, and a duet by Lott.

The company is doing six shows in Regina this month. It is waiting on funding to confirm visits to Saskatoon, Thompson and another tour city.

Lott was so busy preparing for WCD to perform three shows today and three Sunday on its own stage at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, he hadn't had time to research exactly when the company last toured to Toronto and Vancouver.

But, he said, being seen in those dance capitals is a major step that has been part of his strategy since he took the reins in 2005, when the company had a $95,000 deficit.

"My plan was to fix up home first: get our deficit under control, get a group of dancers that work well together and are really committed... get some work that we're proud of putting out there, and once all those things are in place, take the leap -- strut our stuff in other cities," he says.

Hometown fans have a chance to see the company on the free outdoor stage at the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival. It will perform a section of Struck July 23 at 8:15 p.m., July 24 at 10:45 p.m. and July 25 at 8 p.m.

WCD has unveiled its full season for 2009-10. All shows take place at the Rachel Browne Theatre in the Crocus Building, which has just had a $75,000 upgrade with new seats and a new lighting and sound booth.

Subscription sales will start in September.

Oct. 15-18, local dancer/choreographer Freya Olafson performs the world premiere of her full-length work AVATAR.

Nov. 12-15, WCD performs the program it will take on tour to Toronto and Vancouver, featuring works by Rachel Browne, LeSandra Dodson and Brent Lott.

March 18-20, WCD presents Montreal's Marc Boivin performing a solo called Impact and Vancouver's EDAM company performing a quartet by Peter Bingham.

May 5-9, the season closes with Lott's Between the Sycamore, which was shown to favourable response from audiences and critics, as a work in progress last season.

alison.mayes@freepress.mb.ca

WCD season

Oct. 15-18, local dancer/choreographer Freya Olafson performs the world premiere of her full-length work AVATAR.

Nov. 12-15, WCD performs the program it will take on tour to Toronto and Vancouver, featuring works by Rachel Browne, LeSandra Dodson and Brent Lott.

March 18-20, WCD presents Montreal's Marc Boivin performing a solo called Impact and Vancouver's EDAM company performing a quartet by Peter Bingham.

May 5-9, the season closes with Lott's Between the Sycamore, which was shown to favourable response from audiences and critics, as a work in progress last season.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 10, 2009 C7