Royal Winnipeg Ballet's aspiring professional dancers get a rare lesson

Aspiring professional dancers at Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet got a rare lesson Thursday from Michael Trusnovec, a performer with the Paul Taylor Dance Company.

The world renowned dance company is in Winnipeg to perform this weekend at the Pantages Playhouse Theatre. The company will perform three shows, including Esplanade, Company B and Piazzolla Caldera that is set to run Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

At 85, Paul Taylor is an icon in modern dance and is considered by many to be one of America's greatest living choreographers. His dance company has been around for over 60 years.

Trusnovec describes the shows as being three of Taylor's most acclaimed pieces.

"To be still working with a living choreographer of his generation, of that early connection to dancers like Martha Graham, puts me in a place where I feel just incredibly honoured to dance like this, and for as long as I have," said Trusnovec, who has danced with the company for 18 years.

While on tour, the dance company aims to reach out and connect with young aspiring dancers to showcase Taylor's style of dance and inspire new dancers to try it out. Trusnovec ran a lesson with the aspiring professional ballet dancers at RWB Thursday afternoon to show them what it is like to be a dancer in the Taylor company.  

"Modern is a lot more loose. You have to be able to let yourself go yet control yourself at the same time. You have to be able to control how you fall out of something and it's a challenge when you are used to just being so straight," said Julia Jones-Whitehead, who dances with the RWB.  

"You can't really get that sort of training from someone who hasn't been in a company like that for a long time. So it's definitely very insightful," said Mark Griffiths, a graduate from the RWB school of dance and aspiring professional dancer.

The RWB is in its 76th season. Tickets for shows this weekend are available through the RWB website or their box office.