Since 1964, WINNIPEG’S CONTEMPORARY DANCERS (WCD) has been an important force for the cultivation of modern dance in Canada. In this stimulating mixed repertoire program, WCD presents a range of work that showcases not only the vibrancy of Canada’s oldest modern dance company, but also the versatility and talent of the company’s five superb dancers.

The eclectic program includes a solo piece titled Autumnal Swell, in which choreographer and WCD Artistic Director Brent Lott explores the life and art of writers Elizabeth Smart and George Barker; founding Artistic Director Rachel Browne’s Toward Light compels the viewer with hypnotic, unadorned movement; an excerpt from Brent Lott and Naomi Cooke’s darkly campy quartet Spitwashed and Ironed is “arresting...even frightening” (Winnipeg Free Press); and Mouvement, Browne’s solo masterpiece for dancer Kristin Haight is “a haunting tour de force” (Paula Citron, Globe and Mail).

Created by emerging Regina-based choreographer Johanna Bundon, Scribe & Gretel is an exploration of narrative in the form of: A, AB, ABC, ABCD. The dancer etches a story in circles and lines, then returns to the beginning as a means of placing an end. There used to be a body lying down there – to the left – motionless – listening to the ground for much too long. Several apartments below live Scribe and Gretel. They will stay awake for long periods of time nagged by a simple yet persistent question.