“Students, friends, room mates, colleagues, business partners. Lise and Sarah first met at The School of Contemporary Dancers in Winnipeg’s Osborne Village in 2001. After graduating from the Senior Professional Program, both were hired with the company, Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers, where they stayed for six seasons, three of those working full-time together and living together in the iconic Roslyn Apts.
Being together 24/7 from work-home-and-play quickly made the two known as a duet, one not often without the other. After twelve years Lise and Sarah have been through thick and thin. Life’s unexpected twists and turns inside and outside the studio have both challenged and strengthened their unique friendship. They are now ready for their first self-produced show together.
DUETS has been nearly three years in the making, with nationally recognized choreographers Serge Bennathan and Susie Burpee on board from the get go. Lise and Sarah have earned the recognition and support from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Arts Council and the Winnipeg Arts Council to help see it through from creation to performance.”
Sarah Roche and Lise McMillan
Sarah Roche and Lise McMillan
Choreography by Serge Bennathan
Serge Bennathan
Choreographer
Serge Bennathan was the artistic director of Toronto’s Dancemakers from 1990 to 2006.
Twelve works of Bennathan for Dancemakers have received Dora Mavor Moore nominations with both Sable/Sand and The Satie Project receiving the award for Outstanding New Choreography.
Sarah Roche and Lise McMillan
Susie Burpee
Choreographer
Susie Burpee creates ‘fully human characters, struggling for connection’ (The Toronto Star). She choreographs for contemporary dance and theatre, and her work has received Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Outstanding Choreography and Performance. She is also a recipient of the K.M. Hunter Artist Award for Dance. Recent credits include the Stockholm (Seventh Stage Theatre), Someone Else (Crow’s Theatre) and the award-winning Road Trip(with Linnea Swan).
Choreography by Susie Burpee
