This week on Townsquare 49 radio, we meet Anchorage’s newest modern dance group, the Pulse Dance Company. Stephanie Wonchala is the founder, and has managed to recruit all kinds of talent. Here’s a short preview of the story – the full audio is below.
On a recent evening I dropped in to watch the group rehearse their newest production titled,Ever After is an interpretation of both folklore and fairy tales, so what I’m drawing from are the underlying themes throughout these historical fables. Ever After. Often they deal with a woman’s growth from maiden to matron to crone, and the growing pains, so that’s a lot of what this show has to do with.”
Many of the fables in the performance are based on the classic Grimm fairy tales, but Wonchala says you can expect to see all kinds.
“Several that we’re featuring in this production incorporate Cinderella, the fable The Little Red Hen, and we touch on the Snow Queen. We have three girls who are dressed up like Rapunzel, Snow White, and the Little Mermaid.”
One of the ways the performance combines ancient and modern concepts is through music, with some songs being whimsical while others having a more digital sound.
“I think the biggest challenge is taking these ideas is not spoon feeding them to your audience, and I think that’s going to be a challenge for the audience as well. They’ve probably heard the words fairy tale and folklore and will probably expect to come and see Hansel and Gretel skipping around and that’s absolutely not the case, so I think both the audience and I are going into this experience together to see what the ultimate message is that we can come out with.”
And that’s all for Townsquare 49 radio this week. For more stories about our community, or to find out how to become a community contributor, check out the Town Square 49 blog.
Click below to listen to the full audio story:
pulse dance final
Dave Waldron began his radio career in 2000 as a volunteer DJ at UAA’s radio station KRUA 88.1, where he hosted a weekend music show. In 2004 he was hired as the station’s music director, and held the position until his graduation in 2007. He was hired by Alaska Public Media in 2008 and since then has worked as an audio engineer, editor, and producer. He currently runs his own small business AK Audio Pro, and is a host of Alaska Public Media’s Hometown, Alaska.
