Vanessa Wishstar won first place at this year’s Southeast’s Got Talent show at the Southeast Alaska State Fair for an interpretive dance related to the December storms.
Wishstar and her family were displaced from their Beach Road home after the Dec. 2 landslide destroyed houses and killed two, David Simmon and Jenae Larson.
Wishstar’s family, along with others in the area near the slide, have chosen not to return to their homes. She said her performance was meant to address the difference between fear and trauma related to that decision.
“People thought we’re not going back because we’re afraid,” Wishstar said. “We need to have a different language about that because fear is not the same as trauma. There’s a big disconnect in that. That’s what I wanted to portray.”
Wishstar began the performance wheeling a cart onto the stage with a cardboard sign that read “homeless” to the song “Storms” by Fleetwood Mac. She was wearing clothes that were donated by the public after the slide. A hat she wore during the dance repeatedly slipped off her head as she tried to keep it on.
“It was so symbolic of trying to fit in and not being able to,” Wishstar said. “Of course they don’t fit right, they’re not your clothes.”
As the performance continued she removed layers of clothes and placed them in the cart. Down to a donated bra from Costco and underwear, she had strips of tape stuck to a bodysuit with words written on the tape including “vulnerable,” “landslide” and “evacuee.”
At the end of the dance she signaled the letter L with her fingers followed by holding up two fingers. The L was for Laura Rogers, who witnessed the slide and quickly called Wishstar and told her to come to her home after her family evacuated.
“After the landslide happened I wrote on her Facebook page and said she was my lifeline,” Wishstar said. “L for Laura being my lifeline and two for David and Jenae.”
Her win at the Southeast State Fair talent show earned her a spot at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer. She said she plans to attend and perform at the Sept. 4 talent show.