For Colored Ladies Who Have Considered Pull-Tabs With Their Last Two Dollars

This event will be streamed live from the Anchorage Concert Association's Facebook and Youtube pages.

"For Colored Ladies Who Have Considered Pull-Tabs With Their Last Two Dollars” is a choreopoem written and directed by M.C. Mohagani Magnetek as part of Anchorage Concerts Community Artist Projects. 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.

CAST
Bonnie Moring - Green Lady
Destiny Steward - Black Lady
Kasha Smith-Poynter - Orange lady
Maia Draper-Reich - Pink lady
Misha Baskerville - Colored Lady
Tey Mone - Purple Lady