HALLOWEEN AT THE STUDIO

Time for some self-promotion!
Or not promoting me but my business (which I suppose I really should remember to do more often) -

Both my colleague and I (plus our assistant. Yazzz, we have one that actually the employment agency pays for! Phew!) are huge fans of Halloween. So to get the most out of it we are celebrating Halloween weeks at the studio with spooky tunes and choreographies. Plus some discounts - come and try out a new class for just 10€!

You can find our studio at Facebook here: Facebook.com/StudioShangriLa
And our Burlesque School (which is pretty much the same as the studio page, but focusing more on the burlesque content) here: Facebook.com/ShangriLaSchoolOfShowgirls
You can of course find our website here: studioshangrila.fi
and us at instagram @studioshangrila
For any blogreader of mine who hangs around Southern Finland and wants to take classes with us (a whole season/weekly/once) I've made a discount code to use at the web store or at the studio for 15% off any purchase (not applicable to special weekend courses or classes with guest teachers from abroad): FREELANCERS15

You can see a little clip from last month when we did some fun and easy go-go dancing here!

While we are mainly a burlesque school I still have to add that pilates (which I teach if you've missed that) is the best thing you can do for yourself, ever. EVER.

So see you at Shangri-La, yes? BUAHAHAHAAA! (spooky laughter, you know, for Halloween)


(Not sure why I felt I still had to tag this post 'photoshop' though. In case it was not obvious enough.)

SUMMER WORKOUT

Today I set up a little outdoor "gym" in the garden. Working out outdoors is such a summer bonus, plus when you set up a few different equipments together it becomes more of a thing and you are more likely to do it properly instead of one exercise here and there with some iphone scrolling in between (=how it usually goes when I try do work out at home). That, or making a lists of exercises and reps you are going to do helps me keep focused and not start cheating (too much). I don't have the time to work out as much as I would want to; I almost never make it to the gym anymore, and even though you can do a full body workout at home I don't seem to take the time to do so too often either.

Basically you can get your complete work out by doing pilates only, and combining that with dance, for example, you're pretty well off. But I like it with some variation and am rather fond of basic functional gym training as well. And you actually don't need that much equipment for a proper workout as you are able to use your own body as resistance; you can do so much with just your own weight and nothing else. But do I have a set of trx-like straps, some elastics, a couple of dumbells and a hoop. So the routine can be varied a lot. I also took use of Dag's swing for some plank- and push up challenge.

After my workout I had some chocolate and red wine to even it out a little.

BALANCE BY THE SEA / SUMMER AT THE STUDIO

I'm back from our usual three days of archipelago midsummer celebrations! It wasn't all wine-sipping and constant eating for me 24/7, I took some time to do some pilates and balance practices as well. The setting kind of calls for that; I've always liked to work out by to the sound of the sea.

In summer my pilates classes over at our studio are Monday evenings, and what better way to continue summer after the celebrations by celebrating your own strength, hmmm..? Tomorrow at 18:30! With the Elvis themed dance workout before that. (Which we also did with my mom and sisters too at the beach today. It's fun!)

I also have a morning pilates class every second Thursday, and every second Thursday Ruska has her Seasonal Yoga Body Clock Yang class. We have a summer discount for the whole season where our anytime card is only 90€, and you can buy our 10-times card for the summer season for just 100€ (normally 140€), until July 15. We're open all trough the summer except for week 29 in July!

And -woop woop!- next week we're having a burlesque beginners-intensive camp! Two days of fun and learning including stage-make up practices as well as a free entry to the Vegas-themed summer edition of our RubiesKlubit in the evening - a complete starter kit that is! The camp is in Finnish but if you speak English eller svenska we will mix! Do join in on the fun!

Plus, one last thing of self promotion (which I often forget to do, ehrm) ; do remember that we organise bachelorette/hen party burlesque classes (burleskipolttarit) too!  At our studio, or alternatively we show up to where you are celebrating (with some limitations, of course). It's is rather popular these days, having burlesque classes for the bachelorette parties, and were actually the first in the country organising them, together with Bettie, Kiki and Olivia. So we know how to keep you entertained!

But yeah, pilates, tomorrow evening -or, today by now I guess, as we are just about to tick-tock over to Monday's side here.
"Be in control of your body, not at the mercy of it." (Joseph Pilates). YES to that. So see you!

SUMMER CLASSES AT SHANGRI-LA

A little hint for any of my readers that are located in our around Helsinki; next week we are starting our summer schedule over at our studio and burlesque school and to celebrate the new season having a discount of two-for-one; two persons for the price of one or take two classes pay one!

(My iPhone made some semi-accidental "art" when I was playing around with apps and filters. I am sort of almost computer-less for the moment -which is a different and seemingly neverending story...)

 We are having lots of themed summer classes, like my Elvistellään!-class starting on Monday (which is, a dance workout with go go, burlesque and rock n'roll moves with Elvis and Elvis only on the soundtrack. Because why not! Can't really translate the Elvistellään-name from Finnish though..). And a lot more. I'm also teaching a Pilates intro class on Monday. You can find out more trough our website (so far in Finnish only) or via our FB summer event page.
Come dance and sweat and have fun!

THE LAST OF APRIL

Voom voom, time flies and it's almost May! Yey!  I've been busying around, but here are some of the things that happened during the last week of April (as my instagram saw it)...

Ok, this is the shittiest picture I have ever posted, no doubt about it. An iPhone really is no night time camera. So in this picture you can se an in-real-life gigantic full moon to the left, and two huge moose to the right. Or you can if you could.

I was driving home to the countryside from the studio late at night, as usual, when I saw a big moose (or actually, elk, as they are called over here) standing by the road. And they are huge. Majestic. It really is a sight, especially if they are standing still and not running away. They are rather shy, so you don't get to see them that often, although this time of the year the elks and deer move around a lot.  I stopped the car and stepped out to take a picture of the animal who had joined another moose on the field. With poor result. They just stood there a while and stared at me and I stared back and drove off and spotted a crowd of white tailed deer skipping over the road at the next turn. The following night as I was driving home from a gig, at a spot a few kilometers before I had seen the animals earlier, just before I turned off the big road up to the farm, I saw a big dead moose along the road; it had been hit by a car. They were trying to ligt  it on board a pickup. Elk-accidents are dangerous, and often fatal for the weaker part, but can be for bothm as the animals weights several hundred kilos; you don't want one trough your windshield. Those warning signs you usually see on tourist mugs and t-shirts are not just for fun.... I drive a lot and see lots of roadkill during the summer months but I've never seen a moose crash before. It was so sad to think of the beautiful animal by the road before, and now to see a similar (or, probably the same individual) dead the night after.

I finished filming the music video for Dark Country. It was cold and raining, as it usually is when filming outdoors, and I was happy from the waist-down-shots, strutting around in my summer dress plus knitted dance-wear-pull-on ballet stretch pants, knee socks and boots (and later, to make it even more stylish: rubber boots).

Filming in dark and wet woods. Phone-shot by @jamipietila.
There is some awesome behind-the-scenes footage from the shoot but that will be for another time!

Dag had a masquerade at his playschool, and he had planned to be a lion for some time now. But then he suddenly grew up to become a big boy and didn't want to be a lame lion anymore but a kick-ass red ninjago ninja. And for those who don't have kids (or are Lego fans), that's a Lego character.

And at the end of the week I received my Peak Pilates advanced matwork instructor certification!
I have had the certification for some time already, but to get the actual paper is always a final manifestation of the achievement. Yey! (I intend to continue the education with apparatus but that will have to wait for a little while now.) Pilates is the most awesome thing you can do for your body (it really is!)  so do come and try out a class, wink wink!


And today it's Vappu! Cheers!

FEET x 2

Last weekeknd when everyone else was posting photos of their Halloween outfits I was spending my mine in a not-so-ghoulish way at pilates training, doin (and passing!) my advanced matwork assessments. But because of the time of year here’s a shot some posing skeleton feet next to mine in pilates stance.

I still have work to do before my I will finish what is needed to get the actual Advanced Mat Certificate,  (I already have a Basic and Intermediate certificate). It has been a lot of work during the year that was and in January, a year since I started, I should have the full certificate ready. But when it comes to pilates one is never really "ready", there is always more to learn, things to develop and work on,  new things to discover within yourself.  A pilates exercise is so multi levelled that you can keep on finding new challenges to it over and over again as you learn to work more deep within your body towards the ideal. Saying so may for those that don’t practice pilates (or some other kind of excercise where one actually “deepens into oneself”) that may sound rather abstract or even annoying, but at some point(s) of practicing one really will experience this as an “Ah! This is what it can/should feel like!”.

Pilates is very interesting and rewarding and it will take time to master  - I still know there is so much more development in my own training that I can do! A certification requires frequent updates (attending workshops etc) and I am looking to deepen my pilates education as well, working also with apparatus, as soon as I have the time (and funding) for it. There are different approaches to pilates and the classical one is definitely the one I prefer (thus I have studied it), and I would recommend anyone to try classical pilates at least for a while to notice the benefits (and then it will be hard to let go).

It is strange how things go in life, looking back. A year and a half ago I would not have known that I would be doing this right now. As I probably have said before, becoming a pilates teacher had been on my mind for years, a constant point on the five-years-or-more-list. It's status changed into a now-or-never after having had the miscarriages last year. I suppose it's something of a lemons and lemonade thing, or, rather; if life hands you lemons fuck that and get some ice cream instead. Give me limes and let's make mojitos!

On another note, funny remembering a thing I read many years ago, in my mid twenties. I think I’ve mentioned it here before, but it was a young blogger, 19-20-ish or so, posting about and commenting on red carpet pics of some celebrity that “it is amazing that she looks that good at 34!”, (there were probably a few omg's!! thrown in there after that as well)  which of course sparked a bunch of amused comments from "older" readers. I too laughed at that, because, although I know that for someone barely twenty 34 years can seem rather old, (maybe it even seemed a bit older ten -eight years ago than it does today when 40 is nothing. It's sort of not even the "new thirty" anymore. Well, in my post-30 world at least ;) I at a 20-something age still always saw my future self as more fit when past thirty - when I would not be going out partying every night of the week anymore and hopefully would get more sleep as well. I was in good shape back then too, frequenting the gym as well as doing savate, but I pictured myself as someone doing a bunch of yoga and healthier stuff and just being over all super fit at.  And that was perhaps one of the things that past me got rather accurate. Because now I am there, 34. Because of time being at least a bit unmerciful to each and every one of us, in one way or another, and as pregnancy and childbirth (read: breastfeeding) do leave their marks, my body may not look that much “better” now that it did then at twenty-something. But I iknow t is stronger in a more balanced way now than before! Seriously folks, pilates.

The sleep part though. That I could work on. When I have the time. And you know what would be truly awesome? An eight day per week. Plus some extra hours for the day. Those could be added nighttime. Mmmyes.

FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW

Wearing warm and yellow. That's nice when it's grey and cold outside.

Put together a jar of home made granola from products grown on the farm only.

Our kitchen is full of new herbs and extra plants that the crew left behind after shooting a commercial here last week.

And now it's time to study some more pilates! Have an instructor camp and test coming up next week. (And you know, if you want to come to my classes you can do so Tuesday mornings and Thursday evenings at out studio!...that still does not have it's website up and running properly yet. Uaaaa!)

AT THE STUDIO

Late night at the studio with a cup of the after the classes.

We are very happy with how the space turned out and also proud that we did it by ourselves (if you don't count building two walls which we had a builder do), stage and all!

Here's how it looked before:

And now:

(Our landlord said he was surprised too see what we managed to do with the space.)

Here in action rehearsing with one of our performing troupes!

The dressing room. We also have another smaller mirrored rehearsal space with storage for our costumes but that space is still just filled with said costumes, suitcases and props everywhere waiting for some law and order...

One thins I still find hard to believe is that we managed to do this without any external funding.  That was never the plan though, but as we did not start a new business - we've been doing all of this on a smaller scale for years - but was going about things the normal way while setting the studio up, and as we stumbled across the space rather quickly (suitably in the same building we have been in for years) we just did not have the time to get any. We had worked hard the years before this that made it possible - now it's time work even harder -and hope- it will continue to be so!

I will confess that the start has been rather slow though. And that is just due to ourselves. Getting our website up and running would be rather (read:very) important (NO it is still not properly up in it's final form, I know!), and doing actual marketing as well, not just running everything trough Facebok as we've done (and done well) the past years, is next on our agenda. After Along with traveling to Berlin to perform next week, doing the once-in-a-lifetime custom ordered show for Sofi Oksanen's release of her new novel Norma and producing the Pin-Up Finland competition. Oh yeah and setting up Spectac-O-Rama for this year! The autumn of stress.

But. Yes. Our studio is in Lauttasaari and we have classes from Monday to Thursday with special courses those weekends we are not away performing! Buy your classes *here*  and schedule+book them **here**! Pilates on Tuesday mornings and Thursday nights, Seasonal Yoga the other way around and burlesque dance classes every night! It is also possible to book the studio for personal practice (daytime, evenings available in the smaller room) or for teaching during the weekends.

CLOUDS, TIME, LIFE AND ALL THAT

I'm going to start this one a bit tacky here now, because I thought of this back when I was fifteen (when, you know, you easily tend to be rather dramatic and corny about things). So here we go: life is  like the clouds. Constantly moving, changing shape, without really noticing when or how it happens. You look up at a cloud, it has a certian shape and you follow it with your eyes. It is changing form in front of you but you can't see that. It is not until you look away for a while and then back that you may notice the cloud has taken on a totally different shape than before. It is like a whole different cloud. (It was a rather long time ago that I was fifteen though. Phew.)

Well, yes, in any case. Everything indeed changes and evolves (that is perhaps what time is all about, changes in- and layers on eternity) and sometimes things go so fast you that years just pass by and if you get a second to think about it, it will very likely become a 'whoah, how did we get here'-moment. And then it's WOOOM on again to the next one.

Changes are what life is made of. Something is always changing even when you think it's not, time goes on, trees grow bigger and people grow old. No matter how well thought out or planned something may be you never know how it will turn out as anything can come up along the way. Or it may go just like planned, but the outcome may still be something different than you though.  And so on, yada yada. I don't really believe in finding reasons why random things happen or in meant to be's, it's just something we have come up with to make the chaos that forms everything more understandable, and bearable. Stuff just happen. Some by itself and some you make happen.

I've been making some things happening lately. I quit the harbour late this spring. Which wasn't a big thing per se, as I had not been working there for three years, but I had remained employed there anyway. Now my time for parental time-off was up -in short, you getup to 9months off paid, and can then get an unpaid leave until the child turns three, when you are to return (unless you get another child before the 3 years date when it all starts over again. I always knew I wouldn't go back, but sometimes some parts of me miss that. By now I have forgotten how it felt to be out there no matter what weather (or time of the day. And year).

(Here's me in the harbour a long time ago, a shot from that German tv show with fine shots of the Baltic Sea that airs every now and then and always brings me lots of strange Facebook messages from strangers in various European languages. "hello, I saw you on tv. Bye")

Dag did indeed turn three this summer which is both totally strange and totally natural at the same time. (We're on a feelings-level here, as I do know that turning three when you have lived three years is what most would describe as "natural"). He just started attending play school (or play club, whatever you may call it, a few times a week) and he's talking and making jokes and all and soon he'll be going to school and wanting to use the car and then moving out. The way it goes.

See, here he's already flippin' me the bird:

(To his defence -or mine, it's my kid after all- he is actually showing us thumbs up from a very unfortunate angle.)

It feels very odd to think I at this point of the year could have had a baby of a few months already. As it didn't turn out that way, I fast forwarded some other plans instead. Now the baby-thought feels very distant, and, I'm perhaps a little relieved (that's the brain working I guess, creating reason and meant-to-be's again). You do get kind of comfortable with time, and it's like I've almost forgotten the baby time with Dag, how it felt and how 24/7 it was. Not that I remember it being that rough then, comfort wise, but thinking of it now feels like it would be an awful lot of work to go trough again. I mean I have a child that can go to the toilet by himself already. So easy nowadays! I of course know that if or when such a time will come again the brain will settle into that mode and it will be fine and great all over (and tiring and messy too of course).

You may have noticed I have been rather busy the last year and my blogging has been less frequent.
As I just said I'd quit my old job and that my son is starting to mind his own business a lot you may wonder what the hell I actually have been doing away from the internet.

A whole lot. One of my fasts forwards was starting to study to become a pilates instructor (classical, mat. Apparatus are not very common over here. Yet.). It's something I had thought of for many years, to perhaps do at some point, and then decided to really go for in 2016. But it then came to happen this year already. I started in January and hold one certificate now, but will still be continuing to study for a long time. More on that later.

But what I also have been working on is a thing I had dreamt of for years, but never really felt was realistic. (And soon we will see it if is or not, dum-de-dum) : My colleague and performance partner Ruska and I are opening up our own studio, the very first one dedicated to burlesque in Finland!

There has been classes here and there for years already, and we have thought many of those and kept a small studio ourselves for quite some time already, but now we are opening up and actual burlesque school, a studio that has burlesque as it's main thing and that is the first one over here. We will combine that with other classes under the same roof; yoga and pilates (Ruska is a yoga teacher) and stretching as well as other dance exercise. The name Studio Shangri-La comes from our duo performane The Ravishing Shangri-La Rubies and we have coached our own performing student troupes for two years under the name The Shangri-La School of Showgirls. (I linked our Facebook pages there. Do go and like them. All in Finnish, but don't let that stop you.)

I really had intended to blog about the process of fixing up our new space. "I will have so much to post about". And alas - I would have had, and did. But what I did not have was the actual time to do so. (Well you have seen some on instagram along the way, for those of you who hang around there.) In between waiting for contrucion guys who never came (and then came late and charged too much and so on) and painting and ordering things (and spending up a lot of hard earned cash) and planning and plotting summer just went by and here we are at the opening already. On Wednesday!
Eli sinne kaikki, dit allihopa eller hur!

Apart from that we are working on the Pin-Up competition and putting together a custom performance for the book launch of Sofi Oksanens new book. And then I'd really like to fix up some rooms in the farmhouse plus grow back all the kale that the lambs ate.

Well, this started with clouds and ended up in Shangri-La in something of a mish mash of a post.
So for now: studio studio studio. And buy classes!

Oh and also bangs or no bangs?
Oh the choices in life.

FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW.

Or well, the other night actually, as I fell asleep before I posted.

Came home very tired and happy after a long weekend and treated myself with some organic cold cava and chocolate -

because, as some of you know (if you follow my FB page), I have started studying towards becoming a mat pilates instructor! The first very intensive but also rewarding weekend behind me now.

 Made myself a hot long bubbly bath, which my body I had been longing for the whole weekend after some 16 hours of working it.

Altough, a nice relaxing bath and moments of solitude do not remain relaxing and alone for that long. But it doesn't matter.