Region Category: Winnipeg

Brenda Gorlick is a Winnipeg-based director, choreographer, performer, and educator whose professional career spans over fifty years across Manitoba, Canada, and internationally. Her work encompasses musical theatre, dance, performance, and arts education, with a lasting impact on professional training and inclusive arts practice. She has been affiliated with leading institutions including Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Stratford Festival of Canada, and the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

Brenda served for over 20 years as Head of Musical Theatre at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, developing a program whose graduates perform on Broadway and international stages. In 2004, she founded Winnipeg Studio Theatre's StudioWorks Academy providing advanced triple-threat instruction to emerging artists.

Her commitment to accessibility led to the creation of All Abilities Dancers with Manitoba Possible and AIM 4 ALL – All Inclusive Musicals, the first program of its kind in Manitoba. Brenda leads the Dancing with Parkinson’s program with U-Turn Parkinson’s Manitoba.

In film, Brenda Gorlick has had principal roles in multiple Hallmark films. Her choreography credits include Seance, Time Cut, and the forthcoming feature November: 1963, as well as award-winning indies: If It Ain’t Got That and These Four Walls. A dedicated arts advocate, she was part of Creative Manitoba’s inaugural youth mentorship program and continues to serve as a mentor.

Brenda's honours include the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's Honour Roll, Winnipeg Arts Council Career Achievement Award, YMCA/YWCA Women of Distinction, and Rainbow Stage's Wall of Fame. She continues to be a driving force in Manitoba’s performing arts community as an artist, mentor, and advocate for inclusive excellence.

Vi Houssin is a transgender beadwork artist and drag performer. Her family is of white settler and Red River Métis ancestry. Her Métis family names are Ritchot, Poitras, Larence and Plante, and her ancestors held scrip in St. Vital and St. Boniface. She is a proud member of the Two-Spirit Michif Local and a citizen of the Manitoba Metis Federation. Vi works and lives in Winnipeg, Canada on Treaty 1 territory where she was born and raised.

Her work has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.