An ambitious group of Alaskans aim to entertain and inform visitors in the former Russian Capital of America, Sitka Alaska.
Alaska Storytellers will debut in May, with 30 minute live performances that will include Sitka’s rich Russian history. Dancing, Music, artwork, photos and video produced by Sitkans, and designed to arm visitors with an accurate and entertaining account of some of Sitka’s history.
Long-time Sitka resident Kris Wilcox will serve as Alaska Storytellers Executive Director and had this to say about the enterprising endeavor.
“Everyone in Sitka has heard it before from those who visit Sitka, ‘I just wish I had more time to explore it all.” Well after 25 years of living in Sitka, I know personally that it is impossible to explore it all, so our goal is to communicate more of what Sitka was, in an extremely entertaining fashion to those who are only here for a moment!”
Cynthia Gibson and Kris Wilcox
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Sitka businesswoman Cynthia Gibson is co-collaborator to the project and shared this, “A part of what makes Sitka’s past so interesting is the larger than life characters who comprise our State’s historical tapestry. We are working hard to ensure that we are being as sensitive and as inclusive as possible with this story that naturally comes with challenging cultural hurdles. Many of those we need are artists, dancers, performers…the people we intend to tell both Sitka and Alaska’s story. We are now eagerly pursuing locals to audition for paid roles in Alaska Storytellers performances which will coincide with the return of the cruise ships.”
In addition to auditioning, the community is encouraged to attend upcoming free rehearsal performances in preparation of the launch of Alaska Storytellers (time and place to be announced). According to the organization’s leadership, great care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the retelling of this story.
Gibson went on to say, “Authenticity is extremely important to us on all points. Too often, Alaska and Alaskan’s story has been totted off and re-shaped by those in control of the narrative. We hope that we can bring balance back into the telling of this story and provide, as much as humanly possible, a more objective point of view. This is why we are using a mosquito as our narrator and lead storyteller.”
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