The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor World-class talent graced the R.H. Channing Auditorium stage over the weekend courtesy of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. A small but versatile group of dancers from the renowned ballet company brought a three-piece performance to vivid life as part of the Royal Weekend. 'When we were a fledging company in the early '50s, this is one of the first places that we toured,' noted Jean Giguère, chair emeritus of the RWB. 'And since that time we've been to under 600 cities and 44 countries around the world, and here we are back in Flin Flon and we feel like we're coming back home.' And it was quite a bustling home, as nearly 600 audience members crammed the auditorium for Saturday's awe-inspiring performance. The young, fantastically athletic dancers started off with Peter Quanz's In Tandem, a choreographic journey that fused classical ballet vocabulary with contemporary movement. Next was Jorden Morris' unique The Doorway: Scenes from Leonard Cohen, set to the thoughtful music and poetry of the Canadian musical legend. Concluding the evening in style was Brian Macdonald's Pas D'Action, which blended wit, melodrama, parody and satire while weaving a tale of a princess and her suitors. Crystal Kolt, chair of the Royal Weekend and an attendee Saturday, did not see how the RWB could have done any better. 'The audience got it. They understood that it was fun and yet so technically difficult that you had to have the best (dancers) to be able to pull that off,' she said with a smile. 'It was as good as I possibly could have hoped.' The RWB was also in The Pas and Thompson over the weekend, with a good reception in each community. Giguère said the RWB had long intended to return to the North. 'It just happens now that we have an artistic director and an executive director that really realize that the connection to the North is really a strong one,' she said. 'We had pieces that were compatible, that we could (bring to) the North so we didn't have to have a great big truck.' Key in bringing the RWB north was Kolt, a spark plug of the Flin Flon arts community. Interest During last year's Culture Days celebrations, Giguère began working with Kolt, who expressed an interest in having the RWB perform in Flin Flon. Giguère introduced Kolt to officials with the RWB and the rest, as they say, is history. Now following the success of the weekend, Giguère expects the RWB will perform in the North on a regular basis, perhaps every third year or so. 'I think the response we've had from the audiences has been fabulous, especially in Flin Flon,' she added. This tour was made possible through the sponsorship of Vale Ltd., Hudbay and Manitoba Hydro. Other supporters included The Reminder and CFAR.
