Love wins.

Love thyself

Summer!!!
I´m on vacation from my daily teachers job, which is great but by no means does that mean I have no work! :)
I was reading this great thing yesterday on body image and I want to share it with all of you because really, folks: we have this one vessel we are living in and we really ought to learn to love it better. As I say. it´s taken me a long time to be alright about my body. It´s not a Mercdes but I´m doing fine with a Lada. The Skin Deep-article can be found here!

"Fuck perfection. Fuck whatever society’s image of “beauty” is and embrace what you have got. Be grateful for your health, not your bikini bridge. Find people who love you for all your wiggly, out-of-proportion bits. Wear your heart on your sleeve and your differences with pride."

Photo: Kaylin Idora

Consent.

As a burlesque performer I´m quite aware that there are a lot of photos of me out on the interwebs where I´m not, as some say, "properly dressed". In the beginning of my performing career I tried to keep my burlesque-persona and my day-job-one separated but as years have gone by I´ve realized the problematics that happens around things like this. Being a teacher by day I´ve had my share of questions about combining these two jobs (no-one ever asks about my job as a sex.councelor by the way!) and I´ve come to realize that I have to speak up. I´m not doing anything illegal. I´m a forty-year-old woman who is performing an art form that includes stripping down to very little (but never nude). I also know I´m very lucky for a number a reasons to be able to be "out from the closet" with all parts of my life because I know not all performers can´t, or want to, do this.

It´s usually people who have never *seen* burlesque who are the most intimidated. As Tigger! put it: getting naked is political. I´m very aware that not all burlesquers think like this but I have to say I agree to some degree... When it comes to who is "allowed" to show their bodies in our Western culture I am making a point when I perform. Me: a middle-aged woman with a far-from "perfect" body, taking my kit off in front of people, laughing at the norms of our society and laughing at myself -AND allowing the audience to laugh WITH me, on MY terms- it sure as heck FEELS political!

I had wished that being a Finn and coming from a culture where nudity is far more a part of every-day-life (compared to the e.g the US) I have been surprised and a bit sad about the fact that a lot of the comments on burlesque performers is negative and only dissing in ways of "s/he shouldn't take her/his clothes off  'cause s/he´s FAT" or something similarly stupid that totally misses the point of this art. This mostly happens online, of course, as most he hating does these days. At shows the response is very different, comments I get afterwards has always been very nice. A lot of people call us performers "brave" but I guess this goes with the political part I mentioned in the beginning. More than bravery I think a performer needs hours of rehearsals, costume fittings and a bloody good idea for a number to make it look good and easy :)

I´ve decided not to post any of my performance videos online, just because I don´t want to ruin the experience for a live audience. A live show is *never* the same and few of the videos are that good. I am working with a photographer on a show reel though, to give producers an idea what I´m about. But I´d rather not have whole numbers online. I have them yes, but mainly as learning material and for the occasional festival appliance :)
I´m trying to be particular about the pictures I post here or on my facebook these days - I try to avoid pastie/tassel pics ...again, I think it´s giving the ending away. This is NOT saying that I frown upon people who post those!!! I´ve done it, but this is where I am right now. Pondering. I love the boob-shots, keep them coming! I might join you at some point, who knows.

What I don´t like is when people take pictures DURING a show. Firstly: you´re not really watching the show are ya? And I´m not talking about the professional photographers. I mean those with their phones up in the air, trying to catch a glimpse and usually getting some really horrid shots...THOSE pics I have a problem with. (*edit* the pics I´ve seen on blogs etc of shows that are nice (even if taken with phones)  I don´t have a problem with. I´m talking about the ones that you would not post about yourself. You know the difference)

Let´s put it this way: would you want some blurry pictures of your crotch online? Or that photo with your face looking like an (involuntary) Halloween-mask? No? Well...
The pro´s often send you all their pics after the show and you can choose the one that get´s published. It´s common manners. I guess what I´m trying to say here is: be polite. Talk to the performers and ask permission. There are some performers that want NO pictures taken when they perform but usually the host will tell this beforehand.
Put away those phones, enjoy the show live! This goes for any live shows!

There´s a helluva lot of shit getting posted online without the consent of the ones in the pictures (or videos), much more nude than burlesque. Somehow the discussion seems to be concentrating on that it´s the fault of the person (usually a female) who posed for the photos in the first place. It´s as ridiculous as the discussion about rape where it´s the victims fault just because she wore a short skirt.

Watch this video: Emma Holten is both brave and kickass.

Think about it.

Happy Holidays!

It´s time to wrap this up for 2014! It´s been a crazy, wonderful year with lots of fantastic things both personally and professionally! I got to perform in so many wonderful places, meet so many great human beings, share stages and backstages with so many amazing people there are no words for it really. My dream of performing at the New York Burlesque Festival came to life AND I got to go there with my ladies Sandy & Pepper, Tinker and Bettie plus Frank and Tuomas, which made it even more fun! Another long time wish of mine happened in Vienna  where I was introduced by World Famous *BOB*, -and that whole festival was such a mindblowing experience, meeting all these crazy, talented, shimmering people from all around the world. Amsterdam Burlesque Awards was the icing of the cake where Xarah, in spite of everything, made some magic happen. And all these events here at home where I´ve laughed, swapped pastie tape and hugs...Oh boy! <3
My nephew says "Dream Big"...if your neighbours aren´t laughing at your dreams they aren´t big enough. My dreams might not be those of winning titles or of world dominance but this year surely made some of them happen.
I want to thank especially my partners in crime: Sandy Jungle and Pepper Sparkles for being my ladies, my friends and companions on this journey. A huge, warm hug & thanks to my Finnish burlesque family (you know who you are!), my burlesque mama Bettie Blackheart (to whom I owe SO MUCH!) and a squeeze on the bottocks to my husband for all the love and support -because if it wasn´t for a supportive spouse this would be pretty impossible.

Now it´s time to relax and greet the New Year of 2015 with hope, wishes and maybe, just maybe...a few more dreams. Have a great Holiday Season and take care <3

(c) JBM

Hoop!

The past week included some moments of pain, gain and fun including our weekly rehearsals and the hoop dance workshops I took on Wednesday (the pain was the huge bruise I managed to get on my hand from trying to manouver the hoop...) I can safely say I won't be a hoop dancer - it's much harder than it looks! but I was happy to be able to get it at least spinning a bit :) Thank you Merilei Mandelin!!! A week ago I challenged myself with aerial yoga which I loved and I've decided to cram in some Bollywood-dance classes this Fall as we'll! Noticing these crazy things keep me alert and inspired!

Yesterday I performed with my drag mother Lola Vanilla at a birthday party and today taught a great fun bachlorette class at Raspberry Fields. I came up with the coreo late last night (that's what happens when I nap; can't sleep and inspiration hits at weird hours...) -and despite a few mandatory cock-ups (teacher forgetting the steps ...) the ladies were awesome! 

Tomorrow is a well-deserved day off. I might work on my elbow-stands but then again... I just might cook and read on the sofa :) Have a good Sunday folks <3

RIP Mr.Williams

Robin Williams is gone and I am saddened not only because the world lost an amazing actor and a brilliant comedian but because depression and addiction took yet another life. I hope that this sad event will shed more light upon mental illnesses and help wash away the stigma of them.

Rest in peace, my Captain. You won't be forgotten. Much love to his family and friends in this difficult time.

A few crazy photos

I have been told that one of my strong sides in performing is a very expressive face, that watching me is never boring because so much is going on in my face and eyes. That´s a good thing, right? Yes it is -until you get those pictures taken from a show :) !!! I have seriously been at lost since there are only a few I can use because my face looks so weird. Before going on stage I think "let´s calm this down a bit tonight" and then...I forget myself! Which, I suppose, is a good thing but also something I have to work on. NOT because of the pictures but because *being aware* on stage is a good thing from time to time. So while I go work on that here´s a few pictures from Midsummer Night´s Dream at Teerenpeli Tease in June! All pictures by A-P Hakanen!

Praline Airlines about to take off...

Our duo with Sir Willy: "Garden of Eden"

SEE WHAT I MEAN?!?!? :D

Faux pas and how life goes on

Hello lovelies!

There has been a lot said and written about making mistakes on stage so I can´t really come with anything new but my own, limited experience. As I´ve said before I´m having a pretty bad case of stage nerves before the shows and even if it has gotten better (thanks to Scotty the blue Bunny´s and Tigger!s brilliant advice that combined would be sth like: "BREATHE. Remember to HAVE FUN and why you are doing this!") it´s still a strange moment backstage. I can get really odd, depending on the show I can be weird all day :D But these days it (usually) blows over once I actually hit the stage. What happens on stage is a different thing, the adrenaline takes over, you get carried away with the momentum. Of course this does NOT mean that everything would go as planned or rehearsed! Wardrobe malfunctions are very common: something gets stuck or breaks and then your timing is just f*cked... I had this happen to me last Saturday again: it was the premiere of my new version of "Diamonds" and my bra got stuck on the zipper of the dress as well as my tassel got a bit entangled with my glove and loosened it up enough to have the whole bloody thing fly off when twirling!

I´ve noticed that the more you screw p on stage the better you become with dealing with it. The optimal would of course be, that *everything* goes smoothly and you seduce the audience with a impeccable show that has impeccable timing and perfect everything...but as with life in general it doesn´t work that way!!! So being prepared is your best bet to turn a stinky situation around. This being said: you can´t prepare for everything. On Saturday the zipper was SO stuck actually that it got really absurd and I had to really keep myself from bursting into hysterical laughter as I manically thought how the hell I would free myself and what if I just couldn´t do it and THEN what....as these manic thoughts ramble through your mind you just have to try to look as composed as possible and as if this is ALL part of the show. Yeah, right! My saving was that nobody had seen this number like this before and even if it was pretty obvious sth was wrong I had Lady Luck on my side and the dress flew off *the minute* the music changed! :)

Music might get stuck or stop in the middle, the DJ might play somebody else´s music, the chair might break, your heel might get stuck....the list of possible cock up´s is endless. But if you only concentrate on what can go wrong you forget to enjoy the ride. I´ve noticed however that there are a few things that help me:
- Always do dress rehearsals. ALWAYS. Do it with every single piece of jewellery and nick-knack you have planned to bring on stage. I can´t count the times that me (and the Daisies) have discarded something or noticed that we e.g need to cut open frillies so they don´t get stuck on our naval piercings or on something else...
- Be thorough. I can´t prepare for everything. Even if I at rehersals think "ok, now I´ve covered every possible mistake" life still has a way of throwing you a curve ball on stage. But I can do my best: using shoes with heels and straps that won´t fly off, pinning my headpieces properly, checking that the frillies on my panties aren´t in between the dress etc. It will only take a minute or so backstage, don´t be sloppy. And trust me: most of this I have learned the hard way aka by making the mistake :D
-When something goes wrong (and eventually it will) do as they say in the Hitchiker´s Guide to the Galaxy: DON´T PANIC. Your skills with be tested to the max at these moments and the audience will love you even more when you carry on and OWN the situation! I´ve seen the audience clap and sing along when the music broke so the performer could finish her act. It can help if:
-I have a Plan B but like said before, it might not happen the way I thought so ... I´ve noticed that the more I´ve performed the better I can handle these things but that´s just the way with everything isn´t it?
Which brings me to:
-Practice both your act but other things as well. Take classes may it be dance, kick boxing or yoga, something that will better the way you feel about yourself because this will show on stage. If you love yourself you are ready to love your audience!
- Remember to ask feedback from seasoned performers, -not just your friends!!!! I find constructive criticism (meaning something I can work with, not just "it was great" or "it sucked") very helpful! This goes on giving feedback as well - not liking an act is not the same as giving feedback. We can´t like them all. I usually don´t give my 5 cents unless asked for it but I try to find something good in everything as well as not to give overly positive feedback when I don´t see it fitting. "LOVING IT" when you actually weren´t moved at all is not going to help anyone make it better. It´s like with my teenagers at school: if I have to say something that isn´t so nice I try to find something positive to say as well.

And as I´ve said before: go to workshops or take private lessons, we have some REALLY good teachers in Finland (Burleskinstituutti) who can help you! I often get "blind" to my own numbers. Having a colleague sit in when you perform or just to have someone tape your number can also work well -just as long as you watch it later and are prepared to learn from the cockup´s :) Doing burlesque gives us the possibility to be our own costume designers, coreographers, music- and lightning designers etc and it´s great but sometimes another, valued opinion (or two) can be real helpful! This does not mean that you have to try to please everyone (because it´s impossible, duh!) but to open yourself up to growth. Plus very often things have been done before you know...so again: do your research!

I´m sure other performers have more to give you on this but right now my brain in empty haha! Hopefully here´s something to go on. Oh, and wanted to share my BurlesqueMama Bettie Blackheart´s thoughts from her facebook update about a thing that many performers might not realize: try not to sing along to your songs! Lip-syncing is an art form hard to do (and wonderful) so miming some of the lyrics to your song while performing will only take away from your facial expressions! And the face is ve-ry important!!!!

This been said and in the light of things I learned from last Saturday I still have many things I need to work on before bringing "Diamonds" on stage again at Paljettipommi in August!
It´s not about the destination, it´s the ride -so enjoy <3

Me and Dahlia Darkstorm backstage last Saturday! Photo by Dahlia.

Pride week!

This week is Pride week in Hellsinki but this year I won´t unfortunately be able to march since I have a gig in Tampere that evening, nevertheless I wish everyone a good time for all the events! It´s really important to spread the message of equality -even in Scandinavia the LGBTQ-community is having some real issues about getting the message -and rights, through. Finland more than e.g Sweden, unfortunately. Here the rights of trans-people are being stepped on in some medieval ways: before you can change your gender one has to go through serious amounts of therapy and worst of all you have to go through an operation that castrates you! Plus if you are married before the change, -even if you are happily married, you have to divorce because the Finnish law of marriage is different for same-sex couples. Then if you want you can register your partnership even if it was with the same person you were married to in the first place. It´s utter bullshit.

We still need to explain why Pride is needed. There still is those remarks of "there´s no hetero-pride!" or "why do people need to flaunt their sexuality?". It´s not about flaunting, it´s about raising awareness that yes, even if in many parts of the world things look much more grim, it´s not all peachy here. People have, depending on their sexual orientation and gender preferences STILL not the same value or rights in the eyes of the state (or people, for that matter) and that is a serious issue. I´d like to make a leap into the matter feminism and how women face the similar, hypocritic issues as well but that will be a whole other can of worms and I´ve opened it quite a few times already :) Shortly: feminism is NOT about women (or any other gender for that matter) being "better" than any other, it´s about working towards changing attitudes, norms and right out hrm, "small issues" like getting the same pay for the same jobs as every one else. Or that it won´t be the girl getting raped and then getting the blame for dressing a certain way. Or getting shit for not "giving sex" when some moron goes and shoots a bunch of people because he was " a nice guy but never got any".  Or why she is being "slutty" when he is just "a player". Ohboy. I went there, didn´t I? ALL genders should be feminists! This includes boys/men being able to be all they want to be as well: not just masculinity in one way but to be all those attributes that our societies often lable as "feminine". Stop trying to put people in to boxes and except that we are all different, all equal.
A note 15min later: I just read this article about The strenght in being a feminine gay man that both Meth and Bent van der Bleu posted and its a great summary from another corner about the same issue <3
Added about an hour later: this really starts to feel like one of those "everyone-has-the-same-brain"-moments....Scotty the Blue Bunny just posted this with one of Exposed! the movies performers Rose Wood.

WELL. Before I get too carried away politically here´s some pictures from the Boylesque festivities (from Wednesday) that took place in Vienna this May! Huge love to everyone involved <3

OH! And do NOT miss the Pling Pling Party at Dubrovnik this Wednesday! My gals Bettie Blackheart, Lola Vanilla, Laila-Annikki Koivunen, Linnea von Kattendam and Minna Kivelä will be there for your entertainment as well as Elsa Gaselli and Lollers <3 No tickets before the event, just bring cash and love to the door!!!

My little tribute to Tom of Finland

The whole crew <3

World Famous *BOB* and the wonderful stage kittens clearing the stage of my stuff

Upcoming gigs and thank you´s!

My Summer took a roaring start when I got to go to Tampere and perform at the very *first* burlesque-only stage at a rock festival that Olivia Rouge and Albine A. Dorable produced for the (also first ever) South Park-festival at Eteläpuisto! HUGE love and thank you´s to the crew in charge (this including DJ Tiina, Petra-Miisa also as an organizer and Vappu for being our all-in-all etc) and my fabulous co-performers!!! I got to meet wonderful Natsumi Scarlett -who is a fabulous person as well as a real star on stage, shared accomodations at Lassi´s & Marianne´s ultra-vintage flat Käpylinna with Miss Chrissy Kiss, getting to know Miss Acrolicious a bit better... and just spent the most memorable weekend with good people. Meeting the people before, having brunches and spending time just made the whole thing uforgettable. Not to mention that *everything* was thought of! A great example of a well produced show <3 I´m so extremely lucky to have been able to work with such professionals: from Helsinki to Vienna to Tampere in such a short period of time!

After that I packed my little Polo and drove off to Northern Carelia to spend some time at my dad´s birth home...it´s lovely -cottage life at it´s best but the only thing is that my internet works really badly there and thus I wasn´t able to give this post to you earlier. Oh well! But now I´m BACK, bags (and all of it´s wrinkled silk and stuff) unpacked, washing machine singing and ready to get the next bit of Summer going! SO: what´s going on?

It will be more Tampere for me in the near future! At the end of this month I´ll shake my tail feathers at Teerenpeli Tease, also including our duo-premiere with Sir Willy Waterlily! premiere in that fine city so don´t miss that! Sir Willy also wrote a good piece about Vienna, please read it here ! I´ll end this rant with some backstage photos from our Friday night at the Blazing Burlesque stage... Do stay tuned for more ;)

Our stage!

...and backstage, with Holy Curves! :)

Miss Acrolicious warming up <3

Classy ladies backstage...

Classy Ladies vol.2 

Let me IN!!!

"Proud of me Mum? I made it to the back of the trailor!"

Tampere gave us some serious thunder!

Me and Olivia: sister´s in LEOPARD.

Leopard!

In case you have missed this: I love leopardprint. As in: LOVE. I remember back as a kid I used to snicker at my great aunt who wore it quite a bit. As a teen I thought it was the height of yuck! and tacky as hell. Now I rarely, -if ever, leave the house without at least one piece of leopard on me. It´s become a joke and my "brand", so much so that my niece knows me as "Pantermoster" (panther auntie) and my students probably think I´m nuts :) My mother keeps buying me things (sofa cushions, an umbrella, clothes...) in that print. My husband asked if this is something that women get "with age" ...which I really can´t answer except that in my case it has been so.
I am proud to be a part of the Leopardprint Tribe, a clan of people all over the world that boldly flaunt the animal side of their being! It makes me also very happy that a lot of the Glitter Tribe aka burlesquers love leopard :) So today is our day: the International Leopardprint Day! Grrauh!

Happy Easter!

                                   Hope you have a relaxing and sunny Easter time <3

Debbie Reynols with Bunny

Lilian Harvey in the 1920´s

Photo: Austin Young

Weekend, hurrah!

As much as I love Spring, there is a certain amount of stress to it. I stress about the day-work stuff... correcting, grading etc. It all piles up -in heaps- and the deadlines are right around the corner. The "garden" that is revealed from under the melting snow is a mess. We had serious yard work (path stoning etc. ) done last Summer and half of my front yard is missing a lawn at the moment not to mention the HUGE pile of stones that need to be moved in to our "terassed" backyard. This will be the 40th ton of stones and the 4th (and hopefully last!) time I have to ask friends over to help with it... The sunshine gets me all worked up but very tired at the same time, if it makes any sense at all? No? Didn´t think so.
This weekend will be funfunfun though! Tomorrow I´ll take a head-first dive in to that mess of a garden and then I´ll drive to Hellsinki for some crazy Springtime witch-y burlesque at Wäiski! You should come too! Link to Nakubaletti esittää: Kevätuhri is in my previous post!
On Sunday I will have all my girls here as we´re recording proper videos of both our Aurora Borealis and Crazy Kitties-numbers as well as posing for pictures for Asko Rantanen! It will be goooood <3

I hope you all have a marvelous weekend, enjoy, relax and have fun! I´ll leave you with this video of dance moves that just made my night!

The worlds most spectacular dance moves

In and out of drag

Last weekend was very emotional! Friday night ended in a wonderful proposal on stage after curtain call for two very dear friends of mine: congrats Jari and Jac <3 Met the wonderful Lou Safire and I think I´m in love -he´s such a fabulous perfomer and a total sweetheart. Meth blew my mind with the scary, bloody amazing shows of hers! FIERCE! Thank you to all the performers and of course Lola Vanilla for organizing! I had so many giggles that night, friends showing up in stuff that I hardly recognized them -go check out Cherry Turrrbocherry´s beautiful Mr. Freelancer on her blog...she, Tinker Bell and Vera de Vil could have started a boyband called LADZ or maybe just The Itty Bitty Boyz :)
Saturday me and Pepper performed at a local event (for me) so I was very nervous about it - our first number was not introduced at all, we just kinda BOOM! Heere´s Johnny!, or rather here´s "Naked" the fan dance but you know what I mean. The audience had not seen burlesque and since the average age was a bit higher I had my concerns ...but was proven wrong -again! I had one of the BEST responses ever from an elderly lady afterwards who thanked me for "Such a refreshing show! I told my husband to look! and remember this at home! If I would do that (hand-gestured meaning twirling) they (boobs) would be in my armpits!" And then she laughed hard and heartidly <3 It just showed me once more that you *never* know what resonates in an audience and that just because of age one should not assume anything! Lesson learned! We have had a revue-theater Punainen Mylly (translated from Moulin Rouge) in Helsinki from ca 1946 to the mid 60´s so this kind of entertainment is not unheard of here. Thinking of my own future I will surely be the one granny found rather in rock clubs than the opera.
And more talk on gender and closets: take 10min to watch this TED tv talk. Have a wonderful, sunny week <3

(c) Kaylin Idora

Practice, practice...

Our studio tends to get a bit cold this time of the year, so it´s woollen socks and proper warm up that makes all the difference! Making a new number is such a pleasure, well at least at the point when things start "clicking" together. My dress is in the making and I have been planning stuff with Tyra Therman as well so this is definetly getting there! For my upcoming number the boost was my fantastic HUGE boa that burlesque legend Fannie Annie in Las Vegas made for me and that Bettie Blackheart kindly enough crammed into her suitcase from NYC last Fall. The next step was thinking of a story and then finding the right music...Now I´m working on the coreo and as some of you might remember that´s *always* the hardest part for me! I´m really looking forward the workshops of Perle Noire and Kitten DeVille next week since I really think they will help me hugely with my on going project!

People often ask where I get the initial ideas to new numbers from - it´s really hard to say sometimes. Mostly with me it has been the musical inspiration that comes firstly. It´s funny because I seldomly listen to music these days without thinking "hmmm, can I use this in something...?" It´s also a lot about research and trying to google if anyone has made anything similar before. One wants to be original and it´s a BIG no-no to rip other performers stuff!!!

I also tend to collect bits and pieces of costuming, jewellery, fabrics etc for future use. Sometimes I never use it, usually though a good portion of a number is things I´ve had for a good year. Sometimes it´s just an idea that I store up for future reference: like what kind of underwear I´d like to have or what colors I´d like to use. I have a little black notebook for ideas and store inspirational photos on my laptop.

Also something that is really important for me to get the number finished is a deadline :) Yup, I´m one of those. I might have a good idea and almost finished costume but until I have a set date when to perform it...well, let´s just say it´s a challenge.

Siberia stripper-chic @Raspberry Fields a few weeks ago

Practicing with my new boa last night!

Fo´ REALZ?

Sometimes all it takes for raising the blood-pressure is an article. Today my blood pressure hit the roof due to a story published by 21st Century Burlesque about an Alabaman judge who banned burlesque performer Ida Claire from doing *anything* burlesque in order for her to be able to keep the custody of her kids. First, when I looked at the article -maybe due to the old, black-and-white-photo, I thought this is something that has happened in the past but NO. It´s happening now, way into the 21st century. I am appalled and annoyed. Please read the whole article here.
I cannot believe that women are being penalized for their sexuality ...I don´t know what word to put here...again? STILL? I have been talking about the subject of both norms and gender on several occasions. In the rant about "teacher goes burlesque" there also is a bit about motherhood and it still blows my head off to think about how extremely narrow-minded people are!!!! I have a gnawing feeling I shouldn´t be this surprised, then a pang of "I knew it dammit!" and then it just leaves me de-flated and tired and pissed off that this is as far as we´ve gotten as a human race.
I´m off to work this annoyance off at my yoga flow class. Please stay open-minded, wonderful and work with me to end the madness! Let´s work work for equality!

Trying on my annoyed face. Photo: Adam Monaghan

Fairy lights and disco balls

I have had a pretty clear image in my head about what my next numbers´outfit should look like. Today I went to a fabric store and the stuff I ended up buying is ... nothing like what I had planned! My albatross will look like a gigantic disco ball :D
Talking about fairy lights. I took down our Xmas lights (you know, the ones that *clearly* are seasonal) and bought today some colored fairy lights that went right up to brighten this darkness! They will hang there until the days get *obviously* longer...which means Easter or something. I blame Turrrbo-Cherry Dee and Tinker Bell for teaching me this craziness with fairy lights ;) -our rehersal studio looks fantastic with them!
Sandy had found this photo or Thee Dizzy Daisies taken at HBF´12 on the interwebs. Unfortunately we have no clue who is the photographer, so if you are out there and see this: let yourself be known! We love the shot!

The sun is shining and it´s Sunday, so many things to feel happy about. I got some really exciting news about future gigs today -will keep you posted as soon as I can but for now let me just say it´ll be FUN :) Also branching out a bit... which honestly, I have wondered why I haven´t don´ that before but I´ll explain later.
Since people often focus on the negative things in life I thought of making a list of things and stuff that has made me happy or made me feel better in the last week. I haven´t written a diary in *years* but in the old ones one can find these "best-fight-now"-lists quite frequently. It´s strange how just reading that list makes me have huge flashbacks about what was going on in my life (and my head) back then. Usually I try to go by Woody Allen´s motto: "Happiness is overrated, I´d settle for a piece of mind" but today I feel more happy than just content.
On the list of last week has been: snow, hot yoga, friends, laughter, New Sherlock Holmes, Therapy? (the band), cats, puppy and sushi.
What´s on yours?

Photo: Atelieri O. Haapala

Happy New Year 2014!

Hope everyone is ready to welcome the new year with a bang! That said, be careful with those explosives and do wear protective eye-gear etc. Have fun but don´t be stupid, ok?

I want to thank everyone for the past year. It´s been partly hectic (both burlesque- and otherwise) but I have learned a lot and I got to meet some of my all-time idols, took some amazing workshops as well as taught my first own ones. I have met some good people and deepened some relationships to friendships. I lost a dog and a cat, gained a kitten and a puppy. I didn´t do as much in my garden that I wanted but I got to travel a lot. 

I am not making any new years´resolutions since I´m shit at keeping them but I will promise to try to get better at what I do, to evolve as a performer and not get stuck in a rut but to learn to be more forgiving to myself, to have more patience with things ( and people) and  to continue to try to treat others as I´d like to be treated. 

Have a great evening people! Much love,

yours, Gigi

With Sally Vanilla, photo Adam Monaghan

Happy Holidays!

...aaand we are back after one relaxing week of warm weather and sun! Arived early this morning and I had to set my alarm not to sleep the day away (I´m a terrible sleeper anyways and it takes me forever to `normalize´ if I´ve been up at strange hours).

I hope ya´ll have a wonderful Christmas, Yuletide, Midwinter fest - the days are getting longer again hurrah! I hope my Glittertribe all over the world (the term found from the lovely Champagne Sparkles and stolen because it´s so fitting <3 ) have a sparkling, fairydust-filled time! Relax and un-wind, I´m off to empty my suitcase and do some hard core laundry :)

Photo: JBM