The Enchanted Attic

The following story appeared in The Journal Standard on Friday May 13, 2005:

Enchantment returns in 'Attic'
By Amee Bohrer
The Journal-Standard

During an "Enchanted Attic," rehearsal, a young ballerina performs her solo, but is having trouble finding the right facial expression.

An older student walks out and gives the younger dancer some ideas, as an older sister might do for a younger sibling.

The younger ballerina smiles, applies the advice and nails it.

This is a typical rehearsal for "The Enchanted Attic," as the junior and senior companies of New Expressions Dance Theatre, directed by Jill Johnson, combine. She estimates about 40 performers ages 5 to 50 are involved in the production.

They'll present shows to the public May 20 and 21, but will also do two performances just for area students on May 18 and 19.

Although the show was first performed in March 1995 at Highland Community College, Johnson and Lisa Albert, who co-wrote the story, decided to re-vamp it a decade later, especially since Johnson, along with the original composer and costume designer, have since learned new skills they wanted to incorporate.

Composer Jerry Wickman of Shannon spent three months re-orchestrating his composition. The music hasn't changed, but instrumentation has been altered and two new musical themes were added.

"I went through every single note and re-recorded it," Wickman said. "It sounds much more like an actual orchestra playing."

Wickman will have CD's available at the show.

The story focuses on Emily, a little girl visiting her grandmother. When her grandmother's magical bird escapes and leads Emily into the attic, she meets a host of enchanted toys who need her help.

Most of the toys are friendly, but some, such as a jack-in-the-box, are a little sinister. When bats attack the toys, it's up to Emily and her cousin to save their new friends.

Other personified toys include spinning tops, dust bunnies, spiderlings and a pirate.

JoAnn Hamer of Baileyville, the costume designer, didn't change the design of most of her costumes from the first production, but re-made them all to fit a different set of dancers.

Also an art teacher, Hamer sees her costumes as "3-D moveable art," and said expressing herself through costume-making is "better than Cubism."

"I'm very proud of all my dancers," said Johnson, director of Studio 121 ballet company. "They've put in a huge amount of work."

The performers are anxious for the first performance and enjoy different aspects of the process.

MacKenzie Fye, 16, of Freeport, who plays the roles of head soldier, a bracelet charm and a storm figure, has been dancing for 14 years.

"Costume changes in two minutes or less," have been the most challenging part of the production, Fye said, along with the rehearsal schedule that grows to five or six days a week as opening night nears.

"My favorite part is the make-up," said Lucy Jones, 9 of Savanna, one of two girls double-cast as Emily. Normally, she explained, "I don't get to wear make-up."

After seeing the performance three times I am again duly impressed with the talent that is present in Freeport and the surrounding communities almost as much as I am astounded by Jill Johnson's ability to put the right person in the right role for the performances. Once the performance begins it is hard to imagine how anyone else (of her senior and junior companies) would have fit the roles any better. The music was first rate. The choreography was exceptional. The dancers were inspired and inspiring.

I was saddened, however, as the Pirate Doll, my daughter, Veronica, will be leaving the company. This was her last official performance (for now?). There are various commitments at school that cut short on available time. We'll still have her younger sister, one of the Clown Dolls, Teresa, to carry on the animated, energetic stage presence.

It looks like The Nutcracker will be the main performance next year. It is tentatively scheduled for December. Now the dancers have time to work on the technique over the Summer and look forward to a few extra days off.

What's Going On?

Mothers stabbing children. Fathers stabbing children. A child is abducted, raped and hidden in a landfill. Children and adults dying in an overnight fire. Two children taken from their home, raped and told their families would be killed if they said anything. I'm starting to think that my daughters and son are not safe anywhere. Whether it is Florida or one of the Chicago suburbs the sanctity of life for and the safety of children seems to be in a race against time. When children cannot trust their parents or those that stay in the homes of their family it is understandable how the feelings of fear and trepidation in the neighborhood, the school or the community for our children is in the forefront of our thoughts. Our neighborhood, as serene and middle America as it seems is starting a "Neighborhood Watch" program. An occasional stranger in a vehicle not recognized in the neighborhood will be spotted. Most of the time it is just someone out for a Sunday drive or someone who is lost or looking at homes. Occasionally, though, a suspicious person will be seen sitting in his car or truck looking around. No apparent reason. But it makes us wonder. What or who is he looking for. Is he measuring up the neighborhood and checking out the patterns of the residents for when they are home? There have been a few burglaries. Or is he looking to see who the children are and where and when they play or walk or ride their bikes in the neighborhood? There is never a time when people feel like they can relax anymore. There is never a time when we don't want to know exactly where are children are. It doesn't look like we are going back to the carefree days anytime soon.

Time Goes By

My intent was to publish shorter posts daily to this site. My intent was to keep up to date with the latest in life in and around our community and to look at the world's news and how it affects our area or our lives. So much for intent. In the ensuing months life has become hectic to the point of allowing me to read the news, but not write daily. Weekly has been more the norm. Daughters, dances and dogs seem to be taking up most of my extracurricular time these days. The Prom was last week. The ballet is next week. Graduation two weeks later. And then dog training with our daughter for her service dog, a yellow Lab named Shia for the following two weeks. This will be followed with a trip to Nashville for our oldest daughter's start in college. Explaining things to myself allows me to realize where the time does go. Of course, a weekly column, another monthly column on health issues, as well as seeing patients and parental duties. As I said previously, 24 hours in a day is insufficient time.
The news lately has been a sad commentary on the lives of our children. A father murders his daughter and her best friend and Zion, Illinois mourns. This occurs just a couple of weeks after a mother slays her child and Hoffman Estates quiet is disrupted. When children are no longer safe from their own parents, we are in a world of hurt. John Kass recently wrote about how we turn to perpetrators of these crimes into victims. The children who suffer at the hands of these monsters have no say in the matter, because they are dead and cannot speak from the graves that they were forced to enter before they were old enought to understand much of life. Much of this, I believe, comes from our current disregard for life from babies in the womb to the current perception among many and perpeutated in the much of the media that children are commodities and are to be left alone, carted off and often must fend for themselves. We say that our children are our most precious resources, but too often we don't put the nurturing into them that allows them to grow and prosper in a loving, caring environment. The onus ends up being on the daycare worker, the babysitter, the grandparents, the teachers, and peers, but we as parents are the ones who have to hold up our end of the bargain. In this regard, we have a long way to go.

First Last Dance

My oldest daughter will be going to her high school prom tomorrow night. She could get a dress. She could make reservations for dinner. She could order a boutonniere. She could buy the tickets. Her younger sister found the best gift for her, though, a date to the prom. This will be her third prom, missing only her sophomore year. We didn't think she wanted to go this year, but as time drew near, well, perspective changes. There is plenty to worry about for prom night, most importantly the worry is that the students are not drinking and driving.
Freeport has the most unique prom that I have witnessed. There is the "parade of stars" with the students arriving in a wide array of forms of transportation. Anything, just about, seems to be fair game from tractors to dump trucks to mopeds. It is quite a sight seeing these teens arriving at the Masonic Temple in all of their regalia. Then there is the march around the city block where most every student attending the prom processes to the delight of parents, siblings, relatives, friends, and lookers-on. It is one of the highlights of Spring in Freeport. Small town, big ideas, and just plain fun. Our family should have the opportunity to attend several more before all of our children graduate from high school. Let's hope that some traditions are maintained.

Welcome Back, Mitch

Mitch Albom returned today. He speaks of perspective in journalism and in life. He has had time to reflect on his judgment of a few weeks ago when he wrote the column that appeared in the Free Press on April 3, 2005. His initial apology column four days later seemed contrite and looking for excuses and sharing the blame. Today, with time and "perspective" he has come to the realization that it isn't fun being on the other side of criticism. As I stated in the Pretzel City Logic blog from April 10, 2005, I am an avid fan of Mitch Albom, and while I thought that it was careless of him to write the column without having actually witnessed the players being at the game, I didn't think that he should have been fired...if it proved to be an isolated occurrence. I think that it is a lesson that all columnists, journalists, and newspaper reporters can learn from. Mitch also needs to remember, as do all of us, that we are held to the standard for which we aspire and write about, such as his remarks about Jayson Blair. Sometimes we get a dose of reality and sometimes we get jolted back to reality. Welcome back, Mitch, to your column, to those who read your column, and to life after a lesson learned. I believe that Morrie, would have offered unconditional love and forgiveness and moved on. We can all learn from this.