No Place Like Home....

Well it has been a hellish 48 hours but I am finally back home, safe and sound in my New York apartment! Chicago seems like a blur now, even having just left it and this week off is something that I think EVERYONE in the company has been dying to pounce on. After getting over being sick the first four days in Chicago, I am finally feeling a lot better even after the complete incompetence of Mother Nature in helping us get back to the city.

CANCELLED. That was the status of the company flight out of Chicago last night, although of course we found out after we had already checked into the airport. Travel takes it out of everyone and all of the dancers last night couldnt help but be happy for the fact that we get treated like babies and had all of the rescheduling taken care of for us. We just sat around, some playing hacky-sack, some goofing off with camera's and counted the minutes till we could get to the hotel bar. We were strategically placed right by the "Rescheduling Assistance" line that grew longer and longer as the rain pounded down the flights from the sky. The faces were drooping, and compared to our dancer physique's it seemed more almost like a line up of American obesity than people just waiting to get home. How is it that our country has let itself go so much? Families of overweight parents and children that stuff Cinnabon's into their mouths like a dog awaiting mealtime. There is a time when you just have to say STOP....to American excess of all kinds. Of course I say that as I sit here typing on my computer, blasting music from my ipod, and texting people on my cell phone. Yet again looks like I should take my own advice to heart.

As David pointed out, it is hard to remember that Chicago is in ILLINOIS and that its not all liberals accepting our group of gay dancers. We pranced up to McDonald's though and lauged our asses off at the shocked and confused faces who were staring. Seems like every time I leave town I have some weird encounter with homophobia. Guess it's just keeping me in check of what our country is like.

So on keeping true to the promise of the title of my blog, let me go in ANOTHER random direction now. This week is NOT going to be another wasted week off for me. I need to make sure I accomplish all of the goals I set out to do. I am going to work on the choreography that has been brewing in my head for some time. I have been fortunate enough to enlist Blaine into being my guinea pig but I am really timid and nervous about getting into the studio tomorrow. It's different putting myself on paper when I write poetry or lyrics, but its quite another being in a blank room with another set of eyes ready to be fed the choreography. I have been getting irritated by the fact that I can't seem to get the actual physical dancing out of my head sometimes. I can visualize it but I just never can translate it. Gets lost in there somewhere, gotta dig it out. The Vivaldi that I have picked though is really sparking me, I just hope I can do it some sort of justice.

Yesterday before leaving Chicago I went and saw the final piece in Hubbard Streets program called "Minus 16" and it reminded me why I liked dance so much. In one section of the piece, dancers improvised to voice overs of themselves discussing what it felt like for them to dance, among other things and I realize that I have lost that a little bit. So much of the joy seems to get taken out of dancing when you join a big company working as a piece of the machine almost. This piece was explosive (for lack of a better word) and I had chills within the first five minutes of it. Unforgettable. Ironic now that "Do You Want to Dance" is playing on my stereo now. I do. Sometimes I just forget it.