Keturah's Year In Review

Every year since I began journaling (1984), I've written a year in review on New Year's Eve. Right now I'm sitting in my little room in Miami, listening to a rousing party going on in the main house and feeling a little sad about not wanting to go out, dance, act crazy as we ring in 2006. Mostly I'm feeling contemplative about my future, our world's future, John's future with me. A year used to seem so much longer than it does now. The crucial happenings in my life are as follows:

January: Our country inagurates Bush for his second term as the leader of the Free World. I am shocked and appalled. Also, Iraq holds its first free elections which makes us all think for a brief, miscalculated second, that we might be able to leave that god-forsaken place in the near future. 'Tis not to happen. Meanwhile, I am reeling from falling so deeply in love a few months earlier, and dealing with the tail end of my first separation from John, while working on "Le Nozze Di Figaro" at Opera Pacific. The sets are terrible, Orange County has more rainfall than it's ever had (easily shown by the amount of leaks in the roof at OP - usually right on top of the harpsichord), and my toilet literally explodes in the hotel room in Costa Mesa. Despite, Harry Silverstein and I get to connect again and I choreograph a jaunty little number for Sari Gruber and Kyle Ketelson.

February: I travel to Chicago to work at DePaul University for the second time. This is separation #2 for John and I, but he comes to visit. I connect with my cousins, Melissa and Rita, while staying in their guest room for a full six weeks. They have the most fantastic little dogs: Otto and Zelda, and I am in instantly in love (even though I miss Lucius like mad). I choreograph and assistant direct "Idomeneo" with Harry again. It is wonderful to work with him twice in succession, and Melissa's plumbing works beautifully the whole time. Chicago has a fairly mild winter while I'm there. I miss it terribly every time I walk down the street. I am ecstatic to be able to take John on a sight seeing tour, and we see Lillian Groag's exquisite "Resurrezione" at Chicago Opera Theater. I am reminded that anything can be made into theater.

March: Martha Stewert is finally freed so she can go back to making cakes and putting up holiday decorations!! More importantly, Terri Schiavo's husband is trying to help her find peace while the Florida government is trying to make it very difficult for him. Meanwhile, I'm still in Chicago for part of the month, then fly directly to New York to make my debut as a solo dancer in "The Pearl Fishers" at New York City Opera. This is my third and final Pearl Fishers. I am feeling quite bittersweet about the whole thing. I stay at my friend, Danny's partner's apartment on the Upper West Side and have the most amazing New York experience I could possibly imagine. I tour everywhere. I see Ground Zero, museums, Greenwich Village, the Noguci Museum, and "Don Giovanni" at the Met (with a very grown up Isabel Bayrakdarian). John visits and I am so happy to see him and introduce him to friends. It was so amazing to see all of these people I had history with. I make a resolution to make it New York City more often.

April: The Pope dies and Prince Charles gets married and I am still in New York trying to cram the whole experience into my final couple of weeks. I get home and go instantly into rehearals for "The Barn Owl Lingers," my final performance with Malashock Dance and Company, with whom I've been since 2001 (and the reason I originally moved to San Diego). I am happy to be away from them. It was time to go - sometimes circumstances make that very obvious. What I don't fully realize at the time is that my leaving the company will really be the beginning of the end for me as a performing dancer. Hindsight's a funny thing. John and I move in together (foreshadowing of good news to come).

May: The whole world knows who Deep Throat is as I travel up to Ventura, California with Malashock Dance for my last show with the Cypress String Quartet. I start looking for opera assisting jobs full time. The career shift becomes a full time job. John and I rent a mini van and drive cross country for Memorial Day so that I can take him to the Indianapolis 500 (his second, my 16th). Danica Patrick almost becomes the first female winner of the race. On the way back, we go to my parent's farm and pick up my mother's rolltop desk. Not the most expensive piece but one that instantly reminds me of family and childhood. It's wonderful to work on something that holds so many beautiful memories for me.

June: Michael Jackson is aquitted and I get a job at Florida Grand Opera. John and I begin to think about what that means for us if I'm gone for nearly six months. In the meantime, we go to the regional Emmy awards together and "Love and Murder" wins three Emmys including Best Performing Arts Program! I take a trip to San Francisco to see "Pearl Fishers" in its final incarnation and spend time with my friend, Erin. I love knowing people all over the world.

July: London is dealing with some major subway bombings while I'm beginning my third year teaching movement at the Summer Movement Conservatory for the La Jolla Playhouse. I have terrific kids this year and still maintain communication with a couple of them. I am thinking constantly about Florida Grand and trying not to think about the separation from John.

August: I get to perform again when Allyson Green asks me to dance in "Dancing to Beethoven," a collaboration with the La Jolla Chamber Music Society's Summerfest. The project is very successful and John does a beautiful documentary on the making of the piece. While John is celebrating his 50th birthday, Katrina makes landfall in the Gulf and our government's approval ratings take a downturn almost instantly. Huge amounts of people are uprooted and treated very poorly by an elitist group of government officials. I am officially appalled.

September: I have a little time off. Justice Renqhuist dies and we are faced with the possibility of taking a huge step back in the Women's Movement. I travel to Missouri to stand up in my best friend's wedding. She's a basketcase but we still have a great time and she looks beautiful! My other friend, Margie, gets married in Arizona and I am now officially the only singleton in the group.

October: Saddam Hussein, Scooter Libby . . .lots of news this month. The U.S. death toll in Iraq reaches 2000. The two biggest things affecting me, however, are my cross-country road trip with John to begin work at Florida Grand Opera in Miami, and Wilma, a Category 3 hurricane that scares the hell out of me and makes rehearsing "La Fanciulla Del West" with Lillian Groag a huge hardship! We have a very resilient cast however, and the show goes on with great success! I am missing John like mad by the end of the month.

November: Paris is burning with race riots, we are still reeling from Wilma, and Fanciulla is in full force. I am settling into Miami for the time being, but still feel like the city is entirely toxic. I can't stand going out in the mass chaos that is Miami. I fly home for 48 hours to spend Thanksgiving with John. It's a welcome respite, however short.

December: I take a terrific trip to New York, see my friend in Queens and see "An American Tragedy" at the Met. I am blown away by the whole experience! We start up "La Fille Du Regiment" with mass chaos almost instantly. No hurricane this time, but there might as well be with the amount of chorus time we are cut short. In the best few days of my life, John comes out and takes me to St. Augustine for Christmas, where I get engaged!!

And so, because he is so far away, I sit here in this little room and think "I could be having a good time at a party, but I'd rather talk to John on the phone." I am waiting for him to call and hoping that this New Year brings a little more peace, a little more love, a little more career opportunity, a little more friendship...Resolution? To lose 15 pounds and to start doing my own work whether I have the money or not. To get married and continue to be a terrific partner..

Happy New Year everyone!!