Favourite Local Dancer

Brett Owen

Photo By Kate Streltsov

1. Brett Owen
2. Brianna Ferguson
3. Tie: Carol-Ann Bohrn / Jill Groening

 

Brett Owen is a big fan of the dance scene in Winnipeg and hopes that it starts to get the recognition it deserves.

“There’s this whole hip-hop crew scene, there’s this whole studio scene, all these up-and-comers who are so amazingly talented,” Owen says.

And he’s no exception. Owen dances full-time with the Winnipeg Contemporary Dancers (WCD), works with Rainbow Stage in the summer and has choreographed and performed in many Winnipeg Fringe Festival pieces.

“I love Fringe. It’s the best frickin’ time of the year in Winnipeg, isn’t it?” he says.

His love for dance has also led to some unconventional collaborations. He’ll be dancing with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra in February, and he is working with local improv troupe Outside Joke, preparing for a performance in May.

“They’re going to be improvising the songs and lyrics, and we’re going to be improvising the scene and the choreography,” Owen says. “We had a rehearsal already and, honestly, we were peeing our pants laughing.”

The diversity in Owen’s dance projects is a strength of his career, he says.

“That’s the nice thing about dance is to make a living, you have to do lots of different things, so the more versatile you can be, and the more well-rounded you can be, the better.”

He also teaches four spin classes a week at Saikel Cycling Studio, but that doesn’t mean he’s leaving dancing at the door.

“It’s a dance party on a stationary bike. My class is all to the music, there’s choreography that you do, so it’s very related, and it’s super fricking fun.”

At the moment, Owen is preparing for a WCD production, As Though I Had Wings, that premieres on New Year’s Eve and will also be shown four more times in early January.

Published in Volume 71, Number 13 of The Uniter (December 1, 2016)

Related Reads