PAST SEASON: 2023-2024

Jolene Bailie

Choreographer

Jolene Bailie is a choreographer, director and producer of contemporary dance. Her work reflects on humanness, soul and self-discovery to express a deeply human experience that is honest, complex and thorough.

Producing shows annually since 2000, Bailie has created 14 full-length works, 30+ shorter works and toured her work to national and international critical acclaim. Her work has been presented on over 500 occasions and in various venues locally, nationally, internationally and online – including theatres, museums, art galleries, outdoors, festivals, site specific, and for video.

Appointed Artistic Director of WCD fall 2019, works performed by WCD since appointment include: signals to segue, retuning, in between here and now, Covid Sonata, Body & Light, Modulations, The Space In Between, Last Schema, Anthem and An Aspect of Alterity. Bailie’s choreography has also been presented for Everything’s Coming Up Roses, Flight Paths, Calibrations of Flux, Up Close and disDANCING and Reconnect for WCD’s Emerging Artist Initiative and online.

Bailie holds a Masters of Fine Art in Dance through The American Dance Festival/Hollins University, where she focused on choreography, receiving fellowships for three consecutive years and presenting   her thesis performance at The American Dance Festival. Bailie is also the Founding Artistic Director of Gearshifting Performance Works, a company that successfully operated for 19 years, producing full seasons of programming, national and international tours, and premiering over 30 original works.

Bailie’s career began with over a decade of touring solo performance; highlights include performing works by Jose Limon, Anna Sokolow, Marie-Josee Chartier, Joe Laughlin, Denise Clarke, Deborah Dunn, Marc Boivin, Bill Evans and Rachel Browne.

As an emerging dancer Bailie earned a Teacher’s Certificate with Distinction from The Royal Academy of Dance and a Bachelor of Arts Honors degree and the Gold Medal Award for Academic Excellence from The University of Winnipeg. Bailie trained at institutions, intensives and with Master Teachers all over North America. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Bailie is also a graduate of The School of Contemporary Dancers.

Photo: Kristen Sawatsky

Emma Hendrix

Original Sound

Emma is a sound designer, composer and artist focused on creative technology. Through sound, Emma builds visceral and expressive environments that explore the inherent qualities of sounds – particularly field recordings, found sounds, and ‘machine languages’ of everyday things. Emma creates installations, performances and creative experiences as part of Manufacturing Entertainment (manufacturingentertainment.com) with Julie Gendron, and composes for theatre, dance, video, film and new media installations and performances.

This is Emma’s third collaboration with Bailie and WCD, having previously created original sound for retuning (2023) and in between here and now (2022). Their work can be explored more at emmahendrix.com and at soundcloud.com/emmahendrix

Photo: Unknown

Hugh Conacher

Lighting Design

Hugh Conacher is a lighting and multi-media designer, and a photographer. He has collaborated with choreographers, directors, visual artists, and dance and theatre companies throughout Canada and around the world, in venues large and small. His multi-disciplinary process, the foundation of which is over 40 years as a lighting designer, straddles the worlds of lighting design, new media technologies, projection and photography, using whichever media form best serves the vision of the project.

Originally from Toronto, Hugh has a long association with WCD, having worked as Resident Lighting Designer at WCD from 1983-2007, and with WCD Artistic Directors Bill Evans, Tedd Robinson, and Tom Stroud. Hugh was a long-time collaborator with WCD founder, Rachel Browne, and is a long-time collaborator with current AD Jolene Bailie – having worked with Bailie on new creations annually for over 20 years and for over 450 performances.

Hugh has been a member of the Associated Designers of Canada since 1982 and is a member of l’Association des professionnels des arts de la scène du Québec.

Photo: Leif Norman

Wanda Farian

Costume Co-Design

Wanda Farian grew up on a dairy farm in southern Manitoba. She is a self-taught costume designer and works in multiple genres, including dance, theatre, television and film. Wanda has been designing for modern dance since1989; beginning at Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers and has created costumes under the direction of Artistic Directors Tedd Robinson, Charles Moulton and Tom Stroud. She has had the good fortune to collaborate with choreographers Danielle Sturk, Freya Olafson, Treasure Waddell, Ruth Cansfield, Rachel Browne and Karen Kuzak, and has toured to Montréal, Banff and New York.

Photo: Wanda Farian

Paige Lewis

Stage Manager

Paige has worked in dance and theatre for over fifteen years. She has collaborated and toured with Royal MTC, Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers, The Canada Dance Festival, Q Dance, NAfro Dance Productions, Gearshifting Performance Works, Sick and Twisted Theatre, Winnipeg Comedy Festival and the School of Contemporary Dancers. Highlights include; Toward Light: A Tribute to Rachel Browne, Billy Elliot: The Musical, By Grand Central Station (a Heavy Bell Production) and the Canadian Premiere of Angelin Preljocaj’s Snow White with the RWB.

Photo: Ian McCausland

Carol-Ann Bohrn

Dancer

Carol-Ann grew up in Brandon, Manitoba and is in her fifth season dancing with WCD. WCD performance credits include: signals to segue, retuning, in between here and now, Body & Light, The Space in Between, Modulations, Last Schema, An Aspect of Alterity, and Anthem (all by Jolene Bailie), Play Cowboy and Begin Again (by Jera Wolfe) and Looking Glass (by Idan Cohen). Carol-Ann also danced in WCD: Class at Home, WCD’s Guest Artist in Residence project with Ralph Escamillan, remixing choreography by Tedd Robinson, and participated in a creative process with Melanie Demers, all for WCD.

Additional credits: Four seasons and 47 performances with Gearshifting Performance Works (Bailie, Chartier, Browne), By Grand Central Station (PTE), Sick + Twisted Theatre, Odette Heyn, Ming Hon, White Birch Ballet (Williams, Barbuto, Beamish), television commercials, music videos and film. Carol-Ann participated in Cartae Open School (aceartinc) and Foundation Mentorship Program at MAWA, is a graduate of The School of Contemporary Dancers and trained at Ryerson University and RWB’s Teacher Training Program.

Carol-Ann’s performances and choreography are influenced by her studies in Grotowski, Clown and Feldenkrais. This summer, she had the opportunity to attend b12 research or die festival in Berlin, Germany, where she performed in a the collaborative work, deadly trinity, by Johannes Wieland.

Photo: Susanne Middelberg

Reymark Capacete

Dancer

Reymark Capacete performs in signals to segue after making his WCD debut last season, dancing in retuning and in between here and now (all by Bailie).

Versed in many styles of dance, Reymark first developed his dancing through watching Hip-Hop videos on YouTube. In high school, he found his love for dance working with Melanie Athayde and Jacqueline Garner, which led him to train at The School of Contemporary Dancers, from which he is a graduate. Through SCD, Reymark had the opportunity to dance at the Stream of Dance Festival in Regina (in work by Robin Poitras) and in works by many renowned choreographers.

Reymark is grateful and appreciative for all the opportunities he’s had and continues to receive. Reymark also dances with NAfro Dance Productions and Chai Folk Ensemble.

Photo: Jordan Nepon

Justine Erickson

Dancer

Justine Erickson is a Winnipeg based dancer, and a proud member of the Red River Métis Nation. 23/24 is Justine’s third season dancing with WCD. WCD credits include: signals to segue (by Jolene Bailie), Looking Glass (by Idan Cohen), Play Cowboy and Begin Again (by Jera Wolfe) as well as The Space In Between, Proximity and Aspects of Alterity for WCD’s Emerging Artist Initiative (by Jolene Bailie).

With two of her sisters, she is a member of The Eriksson Collective; in 2022, they co-created four short dance films exploring Métis family roots and the absences of material culture through museum collections in Scotland.

Additional credits include: NAfro Dance Productions, New Dance Horizons, and Alexandra Elliot Dance. Justine graduated from the School of Contemporary Dancers, and completed her BA Honours majoring in Dance at the University of Winnipeg.

Photo: Courtney Maertens

Julious Gambalan

Dancer

Julious Gambalan returns to dance with WCD for a fourth season with WCD with signals to segue. Previous performance credits for WCD include: retuning, in between here and now and Body & Light (also by Bailie).  Julious also danced in WCD’s Guest Artist in Residence research project with Ralph Escamillan, remixing choreography by Tedd Robinson; in WCD’s Emerging Artist Initiative shows Calibrations of Flux and Up Close and disDANCING; and previously for Verge: Remembering Rachel Browne.

Born in Winnipeg, Julious is a 2020 graduate of The School of Contemporary Dancers and has a BA Honours in Dance (2020), and a BSC (2016). Through SCD, Julious had the opportunity to tour to the Stream of Dance Festival in Regina, New Blue Festival in Toronto and internationally to Vienna, Austria. Julious also performs with NAfro Dance Productions.

Photo: Mark Dela Cruz

Warren McClelland

Dancer

23/24 marks Warren’s eighth season dancing with WCD!  Warren danced with Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers for the productions: GORGE (2015), For the Turnstiles (2016), As Though I Had Wings (2017) and as an emerging dancer in Verge (2014-2016). Warren returned to WCD in September 2019, dancing in Bailie’s works signals to segue, retuning, in between here and now, Last Schema, Modulations, The Space in Between, Anthem and Body & Light as well as for Looking Glass by Idan Cohen; Play Cowboy and Begin Again by Jera Wolfe; and the Guest Artist in Residence Project with Ralph Escamillan, remixing choreography by Tedd Robinson.

Warren also danced under the direction of Bailie at Gearshifting Performance Works for 16 performances, in several works, in Winnipeg and on tour. Warren has worked with many choreographers both locally and internationally. Additional credits: Weather Parade Dance Theatre, Alex Elliot and Johanna Riley. Warren is a 2014 graduate from the Professional Program of the School of Contemporary Dancers and a recent 2023 graduate from Wellington College School of Massage Therapy.

As an R.M.T. and professional dancer Warren combines his passion for the human body and how it works, with his creativity and passion for movement.

Photo: Zachary McClelland

Shayla Rudd

Dancer

Shayla is delighted to be returning to dance with WCD!  WCD credits include signals to segue, retuning and in between here and now (choreography, Jolene Bailie) as well as Play Cowboy and Begin Again by Jera Wolfe.

Shayla also danced in WCD’s Emerging Artist Initiative for three seasons and in the works: Lost, Myriad Beings, Feedback, Bell/Anti-Bell and Dancing through Uncertainty (all by Bailie). Shayla also dances in WCD: Class at Home 2, a free online class.

Shayla has also taught and choreographed for various studios in the Winnipeg area, is a co-director, co-founder and choreographer for Botany in Motion Performing Arts Festival (2022-present), and has presented her own work; including for Paula Blair’s Prairie Dancer’s Show and Skylines Dance and Film. Shayla is a graduate from The School of Contemporary Dancers.

photo: Jastin Manalo