Selected Excerpts from Reviews
“Browne was considered the matriarch of Canadian contemporary dance. She took great pride in the fact that WCD, which she established in 1964, is the oldest modern dance company in Canada. Through the School of Contemporary Dancers, she helped train, nurture and inspire countless choreographers and dancers. Her role as a pioneer in the development of modern dance in Canada is monumental.”
Paula Citron, 2012, The Globe and Mail
“Through her abiding devotion to her art, Rachel Browne has come to stand as a moral force in Canadian dance. Singular in her courage, unwavering in her discipline and at times through sheer bloody-mindedness, Rachel has been a trailblazer of dance in Canada.”
Carol Anderson, from the biography, Rachel Browne: Dancing Toward the Light,
published in 1999
“Rachel will be remembered for her courage and integrity. She will be remembered for the way she wrestled with every side of every possible question to find the way to act that would be most morally acceptable. Her choreographies reflected this, with their social commentary and feminism, and their clarity. Honesty made her a cherished mentor.”
Carol Anderson, Fall 2012, Dance Collection Danse
“Rachel’s dances are so full of life, so resonant with the dark and light of our existence, that one simply can’t ignore time. We, as viewers, are reminded of the fragility of our own existence, our age and our mortality.”
Susie Burpee, January 12, 2013, The Dance Current
“Rachel’s dances brought to light inchoate voices of profound solitude, and expressions of indelible joy with the voice of her soul, questing.”
Carol Anderson, Fall 2012, Dance Collection Danse
“…a Browne solo masterpiece depicting a faun-like creature whose primal existence is destroyed by a hunter’s arrow. Like a cave painting come to life, the leaping convulsing [Kristin] Haight delivers a haunting tour de force.”
Alison Mayes, 2009, Winnipeg Free Press
“We owe a great deal to Rachel Browne. She is a role model for all of us, old and young.”
Grant Strate, Preface, Rachel Browne: Dancing Toward the Light by Carol Anderson, 1999
“Through her abiding devotion to her art, Rachel Browne has come to stand as a moral force in Canadian dance. Singular in her courage, unwavering in her discipline and at times through sheer bloody-mindedness, Rachel has been a trailblazer of dance in Canada.
Carol Anderson, from the biography, Rachel Browne: Dancing Toward the Light, published in 1999
“[Rachel is] a woman who has been a pioneer in modern dance in this city and in this country…and to her belief that dance is a vehicle for social change…The applause honoured a woman who has paid so much attention to movement, and to the way in which we can be more human through the arts that we make.”
Robert Enright, 1989, Winnipeg journalist
Please see the linked articles below
Rachel Remembered
Carol Anderson, Dance Collection Danse, Fall, 2012
Flowering: Rachel Browne and Odette Heyn-Penner
Julye Huggins, The Dance Current, June 11, 2012
Dance World’s ‘Grande Dame’ Left a Living Legacy: Founded Oldest Contemporary Dance Company
Alison Mayes, Winnipeg Free Press, June 11, 2012
Famed Taskmaster Used to Change the Clocks to Get More Work from her Dancers
Paula Citron, Special to The Globe and Mail, June 16, 2012
This Dance Performance is an Experience You Never Forgot
Paula Citron, Special to The Globe and Mail, Wednesday, Jan. 09 2013
Rachel Browne 