‘Airings’ Coming to Western Jan. 25

“Airings Voices of Our Youth” is a dance/theatre piece created by Kuntz and Company coming to Western’s Performing Art Center on Wednesday, Jan. 25 from 6 - 8:30 p.m.

The performance is free and open to the public.

Pam Kuntz, Diana Gruman, Lucy Purgason, KaSandra Chruch, Ian Vincent and Tracy Dahlstedt-Reinstra have all been involved in planning this event, representing the different resources that Western offers, such as Suicide Prevention, Men’s Resiliency, Peer Health Education, and the Counseling Center.

This performance offers insight into the pressures that young people face during middle - and high-school years and includes true stories from 11 recorded interviews with students, as well as two group interviews.

The interviews were recorded by Pam Kuntz, a senior dance instructor at Western. After the one-on-one interviews, Kuntz pulled content from them to create Airings, which features three Western dance students.

 “I want to invite people to hear and learn about what is going on with youth in our culture. There is a lot of things happening in their world that adults do not know, or are too nervous to talk about,” Kuntz said. “I am a dancer, so I share my feelings through movement – and that is why dance is the platform I chose for this piece.”

Attendees will get to leave positive messages on fabric leaves designed by Westerns Seiko Purdue; the leaves will be displayed in the Performing Arts Center after the show.

KaSandra Church, Western’s Suicide Prevention Coordinator, said that after the performance, attendees with be encouraged to write on the leaves that will eventually be hung from the ceiling.

“Attendees can write something hopeful or positive for youth on these leaves after the performance and end on a positive note,” said Church.

Many different resources will be available to people who attend this event, including Prevention and Wellness Services, the Counseling Center, Men’s Resiliency and Suicide Prevention. Community organizations will also be available, including the Dispute Resolution Center, Whatcom Peace and Justice and North West Youth Services.

At least a dozen Psychology students will be available to attendees after the show to debrief regarding feelings of the performance and act as a safety net for people to talk to.

“These are master’s-level students who can earn practicum hours having direct contact with people to do the debriefing,” said Diana Gruman, associate professor of Psychology and Western’s School Counseling program director. “I think it is important that we make this available to attendees to talk through feelings and emotions before they go home.”

There will also be a number of counselors from the counseling center available after the performance. Both Gruman and Kuntz are working staff from the Counseling Center to plan and make the performance a safe space for attendees to work through emotions and feelings.

“We want to give voice to topics and issues that are not talked about such as drugs, alcohol, sexual orientation and gender. These are very real experiences that young people have that adults are often too afraid to talk about,” said Tracy Dahlstedt-Reinstra, a health educator for the Office of Prevention and Wellness Services at Western.

For more information about Airings, contact Pamela Kuntz at (360)-650-3789 or Pam.Kuntz@wwu.edu.

Image: Associate Professor Diana Gruman holds up a fabric leaf by Associate Professor Seiko Purdue as she discusses how to set up the atrium of the PAC for the performance of Airings.  After the show, audience members will be able to write their thoughts and reflections on these leaves which will be turned into a new art piece. Airings has brought staff and faculty together from the art departments, the psychology department, the Counseling Center and the Health and Wellness Center. (WWU photo / C. Becker)