Against all odds and right at the end of the year, 2020 took me to the middle of the Indian Ocean to entertain guests at the stunning Niyama Private Islands Resort during their New Years Eve celebrations.
Blessed by this opportunity at such difficult times, I celebrate all my fellow performers and friends in the arts and event production. You are the engine that makes the Earth ship sail and tonight I dance for you.
Thank you Niyama for having me.
Photography by Ahmed Naahil.
What an immense joy and privilege it was to perform a new fan dance as part of the Opening Circle meditation of the Gardens of Babylon event in Basel, Switzerland.
It was all very last minute, but the moment I met Matthias Philipsen and Guy Van Campenhout, the vibe was immediate – we knew we would gel together into magic.
Matthias led the circle into a beautiful meditative state, whilst Guy provided the soundtrack to accompany the journey within. Finally when everyone opened their eyes again, here I was channeling Shakti ❤
Infinite love and gratitude to the power house that is The Gardens of Babylon team for providing us with a safe and beautiful playground to dance our hearts free and connect at such difficult times.
All images were taken at Viertel Klub by the talented Kaik Photography.
How many love hearts can you fit in one show?
I made this new piece for the Moontime Cabaret at the Arts Club, London Mayfair.
It was a really fun night, playing with some of my favourite people in London to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
Video coming soon. If you are in London, come and watch ‘Lovers’ live at the Boulevard Theatre, as part of After Dark, with Black Cat Cabaret, playing until 14th March 2020.
So many people throughout my life have told me who I am, what I must do, what I can’t do, what I have to complete, and what I will never be able to accomplish… and then I met the Goddess.
Rhea Silvia was the mythical mother of the twins Romulus and Remus, who founded the city of Rome. Her father, the king of Alba Longa, was dethroned by his brother Amulius, who appointed Rhea Silvia a Vestal Virgin, hoping that by consigning her to perpetual virginity, she would not bear any children.
Vesta was worshipped as the goddess of the hearth, home, and domestic affairs. The main task of her priestesses, the Vestal Virgins, was to tend to a perpetual fire in her shrine in the Roman Forum – this was believed to protect Rome as a vital element for the well-being of the city.
As Silvia one day went into the sacred grove, to draw water for the service of the goddess, a wolf met her, and she fled into a cave for safety; there, while a total eclipse obscured the sun, Mars seduced and overpowered her. When her time came, she gave birth to the twins Romulus and Remus. She was doomed for breaking her vow of chastity and drowned in the river Tiber.
I’ve always had a fascination for mythology and find constant inspiration in ancient legends from all over the world. In this shoot with the amazing Simon Yin, I imagined a different fate for Rhea Silvia, where she reclaims her power and independence, fights her sexist uncle and builds the city of Rome from the sacred fire of Vesta.
This shoot wasn’t easy. On top of the obvious camera technicalities, we had some extra challenges. The Pantheon – as all major religious buildings in Roma – has 24hr police surveillance. We were patient. We lurked a lot. It was also freezing cold and we had limited amounts of lyco. It was a very focussed, hit and run affair.
It was much fun and we did it for love ❤️
Many thanks to Simon and Hao for being game on this guerrilla mission.
Let’s appreciate that the whole world is problematic right now and any step forward is something that I want to celebrate.
I was treated with immense respect and love by the mainly local crowd attending the first ever EDM festival in the KSA.
Especially as a woman, I’m proud to have been able to bring fresh shakti energy to this festival and entertain a young generation who, unlike us in the west, never had the chance to dance their bodies free to such an extent.
The response from the audience was heart warming and seeing multiple dance floors being shared by men and women, exposing their beautiful, happy faces, was my absolute highlight.
Times are a-changing and I am honoured to have been part of this – slow but very necessary – process.
This is what music and the arts are here for – to bring people together ❤️
Over the last three years, I have been lucky enough to encounter and become part of the community behind Colours of Love – this is a beautiful festival that takes place in its full form in Thailand and is now launching its City Series, to expand and reach out to city life.
London was the first of the City Series this year and I was there to perform with fire to a deep, sensual soundtrack by Lionheart.
What a pleasure to collaborate with Cirque Bijou again! This time we joined forces to warm up the crowd at Travis Scott’s Astroworld London gig at the O2 Arena.
When the brief is ‘Sexy, trashy, freaky circus’, you know it’s bound to be a fun job!
Thank you Cirque Bijou for being the absolute best crew in the whole of the UK!
Glastonbury Festival is by far my favourite gig in the UK and I had the privilege to be performing there again this year for the 6th time since I moved to London.
The talent and professionalism in the Circus Big Top are unrivalled, especially within a festival context, where anything could go topsy-turvy anytime.. and it does! The work that goes behind the Big Top is just insane and the team are on top of it 24/7 – legends!
You just feel catapulted into a fantastical wonderland where all logic seems reversed, the perception of time goes out of the window and everyone is up for sharing their love for music and adventure… despite the treks it takes to move from one area to the other – work it!
This year’s glorious sunshine, the ban on single use plastic bottles, David Attenborough and The Cure made it for me the best Glasto ever so far.
Thank you Jade and everyone at the Circus Big Top for having me play and a special thanks to Shaun Dunbar, who was looking at us all from above and dancing with us every single day. RIP, dear Shaun ❤ ❤ ❤
2019 started with a real bang for me, as I manifested one of the gigs I had been wanting to do for a while – Rainbow Serpent Festival, Australia.
It was an incredible adventure flying to the other side of the world to share my art with a tribe of old and new friends.
This festival is unlike any others I’ve performed at before – with its beautiful site and art installations, incredible sound systems shooting a wide variety of music, there is at its very core a strongly felt desire to provide a platform for self expression, discovery and connection.
Big thanks to Rainbow Serpent and especially to the crew at the Fiasco stage for welcoming me and my hoops open heartedly. Australia, you are blowing my mind.
This Christmas brought me back to my roots as I got to spin fire every night with the amazing Grace Billings from Flame Oz, as part of the Cirque Lumiere Christmas parties – a circus extravaganza set in the beautiful Bloomsbury Big Top, London.
You may remember that Grace and I collaborated before, on the creation of ‘Teardrop’, an exquisite LED hula hoop act that combines dance and smart technology LED hoops.
This season we not only got to perform our hoop duo, but we also devised a sassy fire act that combines fire eating, fire ropes and lyco – HUGE FLAMES!
A lot of fun was had and I’m looking forward to fresh collaborations with Flame Oz in the new year. Thanks to the whole cast and crew in the Big Top, we made a lot of people happy!
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