Meet Henry McCall of Wonderbound in Elyria-Swansea

Today we’d like to introduce you to Henry McCall.

Henry, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My story starts as the youngest of four hyperactive boys in Saint Louis Missouri, born to two classical musicians. I was used to doing whatever the older ones were doing, so when I started to dance, I didn’t see it any differently. I was there as something to do because one of my brothers was doing it. That is until I had a teacher who made me realize how hard I had to work if I wanted to dance professionally. Since then, I have only found more and more ways to explore dance, whether it is through choreography, costume design, photography or continued performance. While working in New York in the costume shop at The Ailey School, I met someone who knew someone working with Wonderbound, and I can’t believe I didn’t find them any sooner. A few weeks later, when visiting my fiancée’s family, I auditioned and a month and a half later we moved out to Denver. This year I have had the opportunity to work with some local bands and musicians like The Widow’s Bane, Chimney Choir, Jesse Manley and his band, and some amazing artists from Colorado Symphony. Having grown up around musicians it has been incredibly fulfilling to have found live music again in my professional life. After a year of performing in a variety of engaging works, I look forward to years to come and adding my choreography and costuming abilities to this phenomenal dance organization.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I don’t think anyone really has a smooth road. Part of any profession is putting yourself out there and being rejected. I’ve had my share of that, but the trick is to be ready to keep doing it anyway. My path has shifted several times from company to company to find where I can really fit and thrive, but it took these shifts to find somewhere that I can shine.

Wonderbound – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Wonderbound is a professional dance company. Which means that we work from 9-5 5 days a week to create and prepare shows to perform throughout the year. Tuesday through Saturday, we start the day with a warm up then proceed into open rehearsals, which means that anyone can wander in and watch for free. Something that I really love about this company, in particular, is the level of theatricality in our shows makes them interesting and engaging to an audience who isn’t necessarily interested in going to theaters and seeing dance performed. I also enjoy collaborating with other artists and musicians because it helps each show be accessible from different angles and perspectives.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
To me, success is about finding work that is interesting and allows me to explore my own projects on my own. I have always had too many interests and too much energy to be good at a job that asks me to sit still, but if I have a job that asks me to do new things and challenges me while giving me enough financial support to develop other skills alongside it there’s nothing more that I could ask for.

Pricing:

• Performance Tickets $25-$50

Contact Info:

• Address: 2535 E 40th Ave
  Denver CO 80205
• Website: https://www.wonderbound.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wonderboundco/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wonderbound/

Image Credit:
Amanda Tipton

Suggest a story: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.