Returning from Mexico in 1998, Alvarado—an artist, poet and painter then with only a high-school degree—needed a job. "I think I was interviewed five times before I met the family... Their first choice was a gay man so they could get some kind of hip sensibility, but that didn't work out, so they went with the buzz cut, tortured poet Latina artist chick," she says.

She would spend nearly nine months with the family ("It all unraveled over time," she says), and the experience would become "the catalyst" for Alvarado, now 45, to finish work on both her bachelor's degree (completed in 2001), as well as a master's that she'll finish in 2003. "I decided I didn't want to be a 50-year-old Chicana in America with no degree," she says. "This is the nexus of where race, class and gender come together. For women of color especially—what kind of job can you do where you can pull down enough money to support your family? What can you do in this country that doesn't require documentation?"

It would be another six months before Alvarado would write "The Housekeeper's Diary," her 1999 book of poetry about her domestic experiences. And still another year before she revamped it into a performance art piece that has been staged in Vermont and Washington D.C., and plays in Chicago for the first time February 15.

Combining poetry, music, movement, song—and yes, cleaning—the piece works to show the housekeeping world from the point of view of the domestic. "It's so hidden, it's so taboo, so invisible," says Alvarado, who now spends her days working at Lambda Legal Defense. "I always have a Q and A after the show and depending on where you sit, the reactions differ. Someone wondered why the work is so bitter. I'm not bitter about the experience—it was what it was. But I think whenever people of color step out and talk about their experiences it's considered in a negative emotional light."

And then there's just denial. "After one of the performances on the East Coast, this woman was really offended and said 'My maid is my best friend,'" Alvarado smiles. "Do you ask your best friend to clean your toilet? I don't think so."

Mostly, Alvarado says she wants to show respect for the past. "For every intelligent person of color who has any kind of vantage point, influence, bully pulpit or clout, they're stepping on the backs of their aunts, mothers—those women who spent years working as domestics to make these doors open," she says. "It really feels about ancestry. If I can, I want whatever words come through me to be the words some other woman couldn't speak."

"The Housekeeper's Diary" plays February 15-16, 8pm at Insight Arts, 1545 West Morse, (773)973-1521. Performances are $15.

Also by Elaine Richardson

SLAV TO ART
On a particularly dreary stretch of Milwaukee Avenue, the Malovat Art Gallery (1630 North Milwaukee) makes an impression. From front windows that open outward, European style, to the black-and-white interiors, it's a whole new look.
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PUT UP OR SHUT UP
Wearing only a short-sleeved T-shirt against the morning damp and ceaselessly smoking Marlboro Ultra-Lights, by 10:30am Blanford's in a black mood following his "audition" experience at Limp Bizkit's "Put Your Guitar Where Your Mouth Is" event: "I didn't audition for shit, man. I just got pissed off."
(2002-01-31)

SEEING IS BELIEVING
Four months later we've coped with the occurrences of September, but with the fallout still a daily fact of life, it's difficult to put everything into proper perspective. And, in any other city, it's entirely possible that a system of ticketed admission to view the site of a recent disaster simply wouldn't fly.
(2002-01-31)

FIGHT THE POWER
Twenty-four hours after the Bears lost their shirt to the Philadelphia Eagles, Soldier Field was in full-on transition. Seats yanked, the field ripped up and an army of workers going like gangbusters to kick the controversial $606 million renovation plan into gear. In fact, it seemed like a little too much work, considering that a pending lawsuit could kill the project.
(2002-01-24)

TALLYING TURNSTILES
(2002-01-17)

COSELL & CO.
(2002-01-10)

IT'S ALIVE!
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BALANCING ACT
(2002-01-10)

HOT AIR
(2002-01-10)

FILM VAULT
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THE GIFT GUIDE
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ALL ABOARD
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