Several Stairway of the Stars alumni refer to the studio as their second home, Lois Bauman as their second mother, and the Bauman family as their second family. But Purdie Bauman happened to be born into the family of performers.

“I don’t think there was ever another job out there for me. I don’t think I ever said, ‘I’m going to be a dancer,’ I think I just knew,” Bauman said. “That’s what my mom did, that’s what my sister did, and I thought ‘I’m going to be a dancer,’…and I love it.”

Despite growing up in a performance family the road to becoming a professional dancer wasn’t all easy for Bauman. When it was time for Bauman to attend high school her mother told her about Chicago Academy of the Arts, but Bauman went to Walther Lutheran High School in Melrose Park.

After seeing a close friend and fellow Stairway alum, Craig Hall, change his mind about enrolling at Walther and instead choosing to attend the Academy she thought she had missed her chance.

“I went to Walther and had a fine time. I danced, but not in school,” Bauman said. But after two years at Walther she transferred to the Academy.

“I wish I would’ve gone to the Academy all four years, but I loved my Walther experience too. I think it was good to do half and half.”

While at the Academy a teacher told her about North Carolina School of the Arts and encouraged her to apply.

“It was a very strict program. That whipped me into shape so fast I didn’t know what hit me!” Bauman said. She recalled being sent out of class on the first day of school because she did not know there was a dress code.

 “I didn’t know there was a uniform, everyone had a blue leotard on, and I had a maroon one on and the instructor sent me out of class, I really didn’t know,” Bauman said. “You have to learn real quick.”  

Bauman said the strict ballet program helped her not only become a better dancer, but also a better person.

“You learn responsibility, you learn to get your butt up to go to class…you learn discipline. To be a ballet dancer you have to work really hard on yourself. Studying ballet takes a very organized and responsible person. So in your daily life you have your stuff together. Now, I definitely have my stuff together,” Bauman said.

After college graduation, Bauman performed on cruise ships and then moved to the New York City area where she’s lived for nearly seven years. Five years ago she auditioned to be a Radio City Rockette and earned a spot on the famed line.

The Rockette season is every November and December. Each year sixty percent of the ladies are invited to return, while the other forty percent have to re-audition, Bauman said. Of the five seasons Bauman has been on the line, she has only had to re-audition once.

“I’m a Rockette, and people say (to me) ‘You’ve made it,’ but I feel like there is more …and I feel like when I got my Broadway show, there is still going to be more that I’m going to want. It is never going to be enough, then I’ll want to be in a movie,” Bauman said.

During the Rockette off-season, which is most of the calendar year, Bauman works various dancing jobs, acts in regional theater productions, and constantly goes to class.

“I work all year round dancing…I go to classes everyday. Just like when I was younger I go to class, ballet, tap, jazz, everything,” Bauman said of her schedule.

“Basically I hustle for jobs. I’m always auditioning for the next gig and its been working. I’m always looking for the next job. I’ve been lucky that for almost all of the seven years that I’ve been there to always have a gig,” Bauman said.

Bauman credits Stairway with laying the foundation for her career in dance. She advises aspiring dancers to work hard and start young.

“If you want it you got to work at it,” she said.