One of the highest honours in Canadian dance will be handed out in Winnipeg for the very first time this weekend. Dance Collection Danse will be hosting its annual gala and Hall of Fame inductions outside of its home in Toronto for the first time since the honours were handed out back in 2018. As such, the awards will focus on several of the key figures of Winnipeg’s dance community, including "Canada’s Master of the Jig", Ryan Richard (a.k.a. Miss Sandi Bay), Rachel Browne, the founder of Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers, and Arnold Spohr, the longtime artistic director of Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } The awards will be graced by another prominent member in the history of dance in Winnipeg: former RWB principal dancer Evelyn Hart. An inductee into the Dance Collection Danse Hall of Fame herself back in 2022, Hart will accept Spohr’s posthumous award on his behalf. “The thing about this award is that it’s dancers honouring dancers,” Hart said, speaking from her home in Toronto in an interview on Morning Light. “It’s lovely to be honoured by your peers.” Listen to our full conversation with Evelyn Hart here: Your browser does not support the audio element. A relationship that honed an artistic voice Hart can still recall the first time and place that she met Arnold Spohr: auditioning for the RWB in their former rehearsal space in the old Genser’s Furniture building on Portage Avenue. “I remember the very first day, one of the dancers who I thought was the best in the company dashed out in absolute tears,” she recalls, “and then I looked in the window, and it was because she was having rehearsal with Arnold.” A notoriously intense artist, Hart admits that he could often be assertive with his direction (it was not the only time she would see an artist would leave his studio upset). Over time, however, Hart grew to appreciate the root of the artistic director’s intensity. “When I was in the company... you began to realize that there was such a respect for the work and such a respect for what he demanded of you because he felt that you were representing the company and you were representing the city and you were representing the province,” she explains. Another formative moment of Hart’s career under Spohr’s tenure came during rehearsals for her very first principal role – the famous pas de deux in The Nutcracker. “He looked at me and said... ‘You have to get there when you get there,’” she recalls. “And I had no idea what that meant, but he coached me and just completely turned my world around." This was the first of several axioms from Spohr that Hart would receive and hold onto as her career and renown grew across Canada. Another came after receiving a lukewarm review in MacLean’s magazine that said she was not yet a dancing actress. “He would look at me and he would say, ‘Well, what are you trying to say?’ And then I would tell him, and he said ‘Well, I’m not getting it.’ And that was the greatest gift because then, I would look at it and I would ask myself, ‘What do I need to do for people to know what it is that I’m wanting to say?’” Local legacies worth celebrating Even though her interactions with Rachel Browne at Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers were limited, Hart is proud that her community is acknowledging a wide range of dancers that make up the tapestry of the local dance floor. “Nowadays, I’m looking at it and thinking that in a certain sense, the tide is changing where ballet and contemporary dance are finding a much more even field,” she says. “I think that Rachel certainly made her mark and to be able to create a company that has lasted and is still functioning at this point is remarkable.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by DCD (@dancecollectiondanse) The Dance Collection Danse celebrations take place at the Metropolitan Entertainment Centre by CanadInns on Donald Street in downtown Winnipeg beginning at 4 p.m. on November 9. Tickets and more information about the honourees can be found at Dance Collection Danse’s website. /* Ensure the audio player container doesn't affect other elements */ .audio-player { margin: 20px 0; /* Adds some space around the audio player */ text-align: center; /* Centers the audio player */ } /* Make the audio player responsive */ audio { width: 100%; max-width: 600px; /* Maximum width for the audio player */ border-radius: 8px; /* Rounded corners for the player */ }