Ho-Chunk dancers to perform at next Concerts on the Square

The Wisconsin Dells Singers and Dance Troupe will perform Wednesday evening on Capitol Square.

ELLIOTT FUNMAKER

Just next door to artist Tom Jones lives Elliott Funmaker, leader of the Wisconsin Dells Singers and Dance Troupe — the featured guest performers at this week’s Concerts on the Square.

“The Planets and Ho-Chunk” — the title of the free, outdoor performance at 7 p.m. Wednesday on Capitol Square — will feature Funmaker and the group that was founded by his father in 1976.

“This is a big deal,” Funmaker said of the concert hosted by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, which generally brings thousands to Downtown Madison for an evening of summer picnicking and music.

Elliott Funmaker is leader of the Wisconsin Dells Singers and Dance Troupe, which is performing Wednesday at Concerts on the Square.

ELLIOTT FUNMAKER

This particular program has been in the works for three years, counting a postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Now it is finally here, and everyone is very excited,” Funmaker said. “Can you imagine 15 dancers out there, and the drum?”

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Along with a performance by the orchestra of Holst’s “The Planets,” Wednesday’s concert will feature the Wisconsin Dells Singers and Dance Troupe making a grand entrance to the stage on the King Street corner of the Square in a wide range of regalia and dance styles: Northern Plains, Ho-Chunk Women’s Applique dance, Men’s Fancy Feather dance, Jingle or Medicine Dress dance, Women’s Fancy Shawl, Men’s Grass dance and more.

The group will perform “Dejope Song,” a piece about the ancestral Ho-Chunk land where Madison now stands, written by Funmaker and arranged by WCO music director Andrew Sewell; a Ho-Chunk Marine Corps Song; and another work written by Funmaker’s father and arranged by James Latimer, longtime director of the Capital City Band.

“The history says that back in the day Madison is where the chiefs hung out,” Funmaker said. The site of the Capitol, the backdrop for Wednesday’s concert, “was chosen for a reason.”

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