Quarantine Sister Circle

Encouraging Empathy and Connection

The next Community Artist Project, Quarantine Sister Circle: Choreopoem & Compassion Series features three free virtual performances, each followed by a panel discussion. The project premiers this Friday, February 26th, at 7pm with M.C. Mohagani Magnetek’s “For Colored Ladies Who Have Considered Pull Tabs with Their Last Two Dollars.”(Explicit Language) Friday's panel moderator will be Indra Arriaga. Subsequent shows will be Saturday, February 27th, at 7pm with panel moderator Leslie Ishii and Sunday, February 28th, at 2pm with panel moderator Vivian Melde. All three performances and panels will be streamed via Anchorage Concert’s Facebook and Youtube channels. A cast of local artists, interactive panel discussions, and collaboration with dancers from Momentum Dance Collective and Sankofa Alaska will make this show truly one-of-a-kind.

"For Colored Ladies Who Have Considered Pull-Tabs with Their Last Two Dollars” is a choreopoem written and directed by M.C. Mohagani Magnetek. A choreopoem is a merger of poetry and dance performance, and while traditionally accompanied by music, this production’s choreography relies on the melody of the spoken word to dance to. This work dives deep into the realms of compassion, sisterhood, and the challenges self-identified women experience. The themes shared throughout this work are not light-hearted, yet humor brings balance to the gravity of the edutainment (education and entertainment) experience for the audience all in the virtual medium.

The talented cast of local actresses and dancers, each representing a different color of the rainbow and lived experience, collectively weave a narrative that takes place in an imaginary Pull-Tabs Hall with a jukebox and stage which provides each character a safe space to share her story. However, as in real life, empathy and compassion are sometimes challenging for the characters to show one another. The aspiration of this production is to elevate the conversation around compassion, particularly as we experience a world of social distancing where phrases such as “together apart” are hashtags posted without an embrace of their deeper meanings.

"For Colored Ladies Who Have Considered Pull-Tabs With Their Last Two Dollars” is an ode to Ntozake Shange’s 1976 choreopoem “For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf” and draws inspiration from the iconic song of singer/songwriter and recording artist, the late Jonnie Taylor, “Last Two Dollars” (1996). While drawing inspiration from a deep historical well, this production in particular is a modern creative work that honors the canon of African American women writers by building on narratives that are relevant in the present.

Writer/Director: M.C. MoHagani Magnetek

Assistant Director: Nikki Smith 

ACTRESSES 

Corinthia Rabb’McCoy - Orange Lady

Sequoya D. Hayes - Black Lady

Antavia S. Hamilton - Pink Lady

Annis M. Killen - Yellow Lady

Dana Dardis - Colored Lady

Zii Faleafaga - Purple Lady 

Becky Roberts - Blue Lady

DANCERS

Bonnie Moring - Yellow Lady

Destiny Steward - Black Lady

Kasha Smith-Poynter  - Orange lady

Maia Draper-Reich - Pink Lady

Misha Baskerville - Colored Lady

Tey Mone - Purple Lady