Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers present Samarcande, a new full-length work created by celebrated choreographer Serge Bennathan.

The French-born artist produced the work with WCD company dancers.

"It's the first time I've worked with these dancers," Bennathan, 51, says.

"I find them quite present and courageous. I think we are creating a work that demands a lot. It's always beautiful when you meet dancers who have courage."

Bennathan says Samarcande is a piece about resilience - the resilience of artists in a society and also, the resilience of Samarkand, an ancient city located in the country of Uzbekistan.

"Samarkand is one of the oldest cities in the world, 2,751 years old, a city that is quite extraordinary," Bennathan says. "It has gone through a lot of invasions. It's a very resilient city. When you go to Samarkand, you can still see what the city is. It's not a diluted city. I have a fond memory of Samarkand because there is a Lebanese writer, Amin Maalouf, who wrote a beautiful novel called Samarcande."

Bennathan comes to Winnipeg from Vancouver, where he is the director of Les Productions Figlio, a company he created after leaving Toronto's Dancemakers, where he was artistic director from 1990 until 2006.

"I think I could have very easily stayed, but as an artist I think I would have repeated myself," Bennathan says. "There are things I want to do, and to stay true to myself as an artist I had to leave my comforts. I went back to Vancouver (he lived in the city from 1988 until 1990) and created a production company to produce my work."

At Les Productions Figlio, Bennathan does not limit himself to dance, but also explores theatre, music and multi-media.

"My creativity is like a tree," Bennathan says. "On the trunk is dance, but because of dance I discovered other things, whether it's painting, writing, opera or theatre, these are the branches. I don't want to trim these branches.

"I am a choreographer, but at the same time, I like to think I'm a creator."

This brings us back to the theme of Samarcande. Bennathan has shown his own resilience as an artist by not just sitting on his skills in dance, but by practicing many artistic mediums and delving as deep as possible without fear of failure.

"The pressure is only to create," Bennathan says.

"The process is as important as the result. I really hope Samarcande will do well for the company and me, but the process is where you push your boundaries and go places you didn't before."

SAMARCANDE
Nov. 20-22, Rachel Browne Theatre