WCD goes guerilla, gets slot at high-profile fest

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Toronto Dance Theatre will present Pteros Tactics in March as part of the 46th season of Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers.

Crashing a festival to which they weren't invited has paid off in a prestigious engagement for Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers.

The five-dancer company will appear at Ottawa's National Arts Centre (NAC) in late April (the exact date is still to be confirmed) as part of Prairie Scene, the high-profile festival of art from Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

"It's very exciting," says WCD artistic director Brent Lott. "There will be presenters from across Canada and internationally there. It's also really important for us to have a relationship with the National Arts Centre, in order for them to consider us for their regular programming."

Prairie Scene had shown some preliminary interest in WCD, but a firm invitation was secured thanks to a stunt pulled by Lott this summer.

In June, he and WCD's general manager made a spur-of-the-moment decision to fly four dancers to the curated Canada Dance Festival at the NAC.

"We just showed up," Lott says. They used a small portable stage to give "guerrilla-style" outdoor performances near the official shows.

Lott's main objective was to have a 20-minute version of his work Between the Sycamore witnessed by Prairie Scene producer Heather Moore. He succeeded in getting Moore to one of the outdoor afternoon performances.

"Following the show, she said, 'Absolutely! You're coming!'" says Lott. "It was well worth our time and money to be seen."

The company is to dance the 20-minute Between the Sycamore as part of the gala opening of Prairie Scene, in addition to giving its own mixed-repertoire show.

Lott says building relationships in Ottawa is also important because WCD is collaborating with British artists on a dance/theatre/spoken-word production called 97 Positions of the Heart, exploring the writings and relationship of Ottawa-born writer Elizabeth Smart and British poet George Barker.

The couple's 40-year love affair was made famous in Smart's prose poem By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept.

The multi-disciplinary 97 Positions is to have its world première in Winnipeg next season, then tour the U.K. and Canada. "We have five English theatres that already want it," Lott says.

As for the 2010-11 season -- the company's 46th -- it features two WCD programs and two guest companies.

The season opens Oct. 15-16 with a show by prairie choreographers called Prairie Dance Circuit. WCD's contribution is a new duet by Winnipeg's Andrew Milne. Edmonton's Raena Waddell, Calgary's Jason Stroh and Regina's Robert Regala and Joelle Arnusch will also contribute.

Nov. 25-28, WCD performs a mixed-repertoire show called Shuffled. It will include a new work by company founder Rachel Browne, a revised work by Lott and a piece by former Manitoban Lesandra Dodson. Some pieces from this show may go to Prairie Scene.

Feb. 4-6, WCD is presenting Cabane by Quebec's Fortier Danse-Création, a major hit at the Canada Dance Festival in which "ordinary objects lose their conventional designation in a surrealist world." It's performed by dancer/choreographer Paul-André Fortier and visual artist/writer/musician Rober Racine.

March 3-6, WCD closes the season with the long-awaited return to Winnipeg of one of Canada's top companies, Toronto Dance Theatre. Ten dancers will perform Pteros Tactics by TDT artistic director Christopher House, described as "a vibrant and playful work that examines the space of desire between the lover and beloved."

All performances are at the Rachel Browne Theatre in the Crocus Building. Single tickets and subscriptions go on sale Sept. 7 at the WCD box office, 452-0229.

alison.mayes@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 24, 2010 C3