On April 23, Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers officially renamed its performance and rehearsal space The Rachel Browne Theatre after the company's founder, so it only makes sense that the first company performance in the newly named room features its namesake, as well as one of the company's biggest success stories, Susie Burpee.

"I'm certainly proud of everything I've been able to accomplish but I've only been able to accomplish it because there were wonderful dancers and administrators and so on," says Browne, 73, who founded WCD in 1964, making it the longest-running professional dance company in Canada. "It was my fanatic devotion to dance that started the whole thing off, but it was not a solo endeavor. It couldn't have come this far if it had just been me."

Browne will present Mouvement, Ceremonies, KJ4 and Flowering, the latter of which will actually feature Browne on stage (along with School of Contemporary Dancers co-director Odette Heyn-Penner). Performing isn't something Browne does too much of anymore, considering her commitment to the choreography side of things. Then, of course, there's the age factor. Still, Browne is confident of her performance abilities.

"The passion and the feeling for it has definitely not diminished but of course, what my body can do is much different than as a young dancer," Browne says. "This dance certainly accommodates my limited physicality, but I hope that artistically or emotionally it can still stand up to being a good dance."

Following Browne will be a brand new, vaudevillian-inspired work by Burpee, created for WCD dancers Johanna Riley, Sarah Roche, Natasha Torres-Garner, Lise McMillan and Brendan Wyatt, with live musical accompaniment by local singer/songwriter Christine Fellows.

"She made the music for the last few pieces of mine," Burpee says. "I think this our fourth collaboration. It's great. I really enjoy her music. It's a nice fit. It's fun to play with music and lyrics and really integrate them into the space."

Burpee is based in Toronto, but is originally from Winnipeg (you might have seen her brother's picture on the back of a bus or on a billboard) and went through the School of Contemporary Dancers. Now, she travels the country working with different companies and enjoys the challenge of constantly working with new dancers.

"It is a curious thing, because the same movement is not going to look the same on every dancer and I'm really interested in individuals and people, so part of the process is getting to know people, not only how they move, but how their minds work," Burpee says. "I enjoy the process as a choreographer of trying to figure out what those are and how they can translate to the stage."