Steamboat Dance Theatre Performance this Weekend!!!

Broadway on Maple Street

Allison Plean

It’s not uncommon for dancers to put Vaseline on their teeth to retain a smile throughout a performance, but the smiles you’ll find on stage this weekend, at the Steamboat Dance Theatre Concert, come from deeper, internal sources. Each collection of movement comprises a story of performers relinquishing inhibitions for a publicized romance with music.

I didn’t realize when I joined Steamboat Dance Theatre (SDT) five years ago, that I gained admittance to a true community within a community. Unlike any clique, club or crew, SDT is a nonexclusive family. Members possess a relationship where they gladly glue on each other’s fake eyelashes, keep nearby dancers in their peripheral view and try not to kick one another when they cartwheel. Members share the thrill of the curtain opening and the buzz of applause, all in effort to speak without words through dance performance.

The SDT annual show is only one of the nonprofit’s contributions to our town with an inexhaustible budget of volunteer time, talent and creativity. We even added a fourth show in our 38^th year — a Saturday matinee at 2:00 p.m. to meet the needs of families. Guests will receive one free children’s admission, with the purchase of an adult ticket. We professionals, dancing dabblers and beginner male and female cast of all ages, delight in the additional stage time.

As a community dance production, we have more styles of dance on the menu than there is diversification of cuisine in Steamboat. Even when we had a local fondue restaurant, I still couldn’t find a single quote about dancing that wasn’t cheesy. Then artistic director, Tiana Buschmann, quoted Erik Bruhn at our last rehearsal, “Dance every performance as if it were your last.” We dance to fuel our passion for the artistic expression and freedom of it. We dance for our audience members, and most importantly we dance for our SDT family.

After the curtain closes and the snow melts, our family disseminates back into the community at large until the following October. But I assure you, if we happen to run into one another by chance, there ain’t no brand of petroleum jelly that could fabricate a smile that big.

To see us dance and smile, purchase tickets at All That Jazz. Show times are Feb 25- 27^th at 7pm w/ a 2pm matinee Saturday. Visit www.steamboatdancetheatre.org or 819-1710 for information.

Survived parental visit

I took the parental unit to the Shedd Aquarium, the Lincoln Park Zoo, I bought them ($340) tickets to see Dirty Dancing at the Cadillac Theatre and we ate in some fabulous restaurants!

Other than that, not much new to report. Finished unpacking to the point where I would allow people into our apt. And I registered with a temp agency. Just waiting to be placed in some fabulous J.O.B.

Here's some Halloween pictures. I was Paris Hilton's new BFF and Razz was the Brown Knight from the movie "Murder Party."

Walter the Model

Did a professional photo shoot with Walter Pants!

Paris Hilton's new BFF

Happy Halloween!

Pictured here is Chamonix. He's part of my "Paris Hilton's BFF" costume. Did you hear that there is actually a reality show to find Paris a new BFF? Ridiculous!

Cabbing it home from a Halloween party last weekend.

 
So, the dreaded winter in Chicago has arrived. The last two days I could see my breath. 

Other than that, I finally am re-treating my infamous bad back by seeing a chiropractor 3 times this week and now it hurts worse, awesome. And still unpacking...

dead rats, broken into car, life in the city

• Moved into new 2 bedroom place. Found dead rat in ceiling. Still unpacking...

• Job - still looking. Am still nannying right now for these guys. Gabe on the left, Nate on the right.

• Traded in minivan for 1994 Jeep Wrangler. Got screwed at the dealership - broken brake light, key doesn't work in driver's door...

Then...the Jeep got broken into right in front of my house. Broken window, yet didn't steal anything. 

just an update

In my quest for a job, I now have a nanny gig, in which I babysit for two boys, Gabe, who is 10 and Nate, who is 12 and has Down Syndrome. I nanny for them every Monday and Tuesday afternoon/evening and every other weekend for $20/an hour.

They are great kids, but the Down Syndrome part definity complicates things with their rigid schedule (and comes with many crazy stories). They live in this fabulous 3-story mansion townhome and their mother is really cool. Not only did she start her own jewerly company like me (and just stopped this year, as I), but she founded two nonprofits - one for domestic violence victims in a hospital and one in Chicago to integrate children with Down Syndrome into the regular school system. Her personal shopper also stocks her kitchen with fabulous goodies :)

I am also kind of doing freelance design and writing work for that famo celeb photographer Marc Hauser (www.marchauserphoto.com) and just beginning to do some freelance writing work for Jim Finkl. Love the name Finkl. His father is some billionaire that owned steel companies or something and he runs a tons of different companies.

On of his ventures is starting a new televion network with rapper Master P, called BBTV (Better Black Television) to complete with BET, so write now I am writing bios for his partners and he wants me to write his biography which will be combined in a book with Master P's biography. So, we'll see if that happens...

If you didn't read the last post, Razz and I found an apartment for Oct. 1 that has two bedrooms - one of which will be an office for me and it has a mini (and when I say mini, I mean mini) "backyard" for Walter. I can't wait to move so I can unpack all my crap.

I also put my mini-van up for sale, in hopes of then buying a very old and cheaper Jeep Wrangler so I can use some of the money to pay off my moving and Chicago shopping debt.

So, that's life in the big city. Got another parking ticket and am not quite still learning my way around.

Fun with "sick" Walter

Besides Walter eating poop (don't worry it's fake), the poor little guy has a skin rash all over his body. I took him to the vet and found out that he is allergic to Chicago. The vet said that he has environmental allergies...but he is still having a great time in the big city as you can see from the photos.

In other news, we got an apartment for October 1!!! Two bedrooms with a W/D and a MINI backyard for W!!! Yeah!