Full Moon

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I've missed doing a few of these Full Moon posts the last couple of months. But here we go again! The moon-music I want to share with you this time is Slept So Long with Jay Gordon. The song was featured on the Queen of the Damned soundtrack, and I really like the feeling I get from listening to this one...

A Night Of Insanity...

So, last Saturday I went to the big burlesque event Fräulein Frauke Presents at Nalen. The theme this time was Victorian Asylum, so I decided to skip the fake lashes, done up hair, red lipstick, jewelry and pretty dress I usually wear for these parties, simply throw on an old night gown from the 30s, and go as a lunatic! Here I have to make a note of the fact that one of my followers on social media got really upset that I used the word lunatic to describe my character for this evening, because that's not a term you use for mentally ill persons anymore, and she asked me to "refrain from furthering harmful stereotypes". Of course I am fully aware of this, and I wouldn't actually call anyone a lunatic, but in my apology to her I explained that the theme for the night wasn't 2014 Psychiatric Hospital, but Victorian Asylum. In Victorian days these places were actually called Lunatic Asylums, and so I felt I had full right to use the term lunatic when describing myself that night! In these days of Political Correctness you have to be able to separate "real" words, actually written to describe someone's truth about something, and word-play used to just describe fiction - without being harmful - to stay sane. Excuse the ramble, just didn't want to upset anyone else's feelings with the words used in this post. Because since these parties are like masquerades, and masquerades are - infact - all about dressing up as stereotypes, and with the theme in mind there were several lunatics there, and freaks, and evil doctors, and nurses, and lots of other weirdos! And it was fabulous!!!

This is the 30s nightgown I wore. I got it from my grandma a long time ago. I tried to do a sickly-looking makeup, and people said I looked really scary, so I think I succeeded pretty well! Several people I went up to say "hi" to also said they didn't recognize me at first, so I guess this is a good incognito look for me. Haha!

Ziegfried was the evening's conférencière, and he looked very cute in his hospital gown...

Harley Queen made her amazing debut as a burlesque dancer!

Johanna Fossum sang a beautiful song.

Aurora Galore did two crazy acts. The energy of this girl is just incredible!

Fräulein Frauke did a very French act. Vive la France!

And then there was the mysterious POP COB, who showed us how to make popcorn.

The performer who got the most sound out of the audience though (both sounds of horror, awe, and amusement), was The Baron. He holds the Guinness World Record of having the strongest nipples on Earth, and he really showed what he could do by hanging heavy weights not only from his nipples, but also from his earlobes and eyes. Yes - eyes!!!

Watching the people in the audience at these events is a show in itself. And tonight there were all sorts of creatures fitting for a Victorian Asylum sharing the dance floors. These nurses were kind enough to give me some medicine! And here are a few more examples of what you could find a Nalen this evening...

Some people even had to be put in shackles...

Yours truly! I had no idea why people were looking at me so strangely on the subway...

And last, but certainly not least, John Paul Bichard - co-producer (together with Fräulein Frauke) of this insane evening, and also the photographer behind all these amazing pictures! To see all the photos, please go here!

Photo (except for the top one: John Paul Bichard

Full Moon

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Fall has really arrived in Sweden now, and even though I love summer, I have to say I do love fall too. Cozy, misty days among the dying trees... And when the full moon shines through the ghostlike clouds, I feel really good! The music I want to share with you this time is the song Chandelier by Sia. I think this is a really good song, and when I saw the video I was astounded by the little girl dancing in it. There is something disturbing in the way she moves and expresses herself like a grown up woman, when in reality she is only twelve years old! Her name is Maddie Ziegler, and well, she is astounding! Watch the video below and you'll understand...

Full Moon

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A couple of weeks ago I turned a year older, and the birthday gift I got from my sister was Lana Del Rey's new album Ultraviolence. I fell completely in love with her last album Born To Die, and I really like this new one too! Very mellow listening. So for this month's Full Moon post I decided to share one of my favorite songs from this album - Shades Of Cool. 

Full Moon

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Although I love the light summer nights we have here in Sweden, it still feels good now i August, when the nights finally gets so dark you can see the stars and the moon again. So to celebrate this month's full moon, here is a lovely song by John Miles - Music. My mom loves this song too, and she reads my blog. So this one's for you mom!

Full Moon

Photo: Charlotte Hall

This month's full moon picture was taken by my friend photographer Charlotte Hall. She has shot me many times, and also takes amazing nature photos! The music I'll give you this time might not be so full moonish, but it's a great summer tune with a nice beat - Michael Jackson's Love Never Felt So Good, from his new album Xscape. I'm a big Michael Jackson fan, and I really like this album! It makes me feel good...

Full Moon

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As I love both the moon and bats, this picture is pretty perfect in my eyes. Haha! Pipistrelle is a common bat species by the way... But now to this month's full moon music - the beautiful song She by Charles Aznavour. Enjoy!

Full Moon

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A while ago I found a band I hadn't heard of before. It consists of Croatians Luca Sulic and Stjepan Hauser, and they call themselves 2CELLOS. As you might guess from the name, they both play the cello. But they play it in a way you have never heard before... So for this month's full moon music, I give you the video I first saw with them. Here is Thunderstruck!

Full Moon

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As we travel the road to the full moon tonight, the song I'll give you to listen to on the journey this month is Placebo's version of Running Up That Hill. I love this one...

Full Moon

Photo: Don Hong-Oai. Source

To get some better videos of my burlesque acts than the iPhone videos from performances I already have, I recently had two of my numbers filmed in a studio, with the help of photographer Qbike. As my newest act is all about the moon, I thought it fitting to post the video of that one in today's Full Moon post! The music I'm using is a remix of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, done by E.S. Posthumus. I had to speed it up a little bit though, to make it better to dance to. I've noticed I've made it very difficult for myself by always using pointe shoes in my acts, as ballet might look a bit ridiculous if you can't take out the steps properly - and many stages you end up on as a burlesque dancer are quite small (which was also the case with this studio stage), and the floor of the stages vary a lot, sometimes being very non-pointe shoe friendly... The stage floor in this video was wholly carpeted for example, which screwed up my balance a bit. But I guess all of these challenges make you a better dancer in the end. I mean, why should anything be easy here in life?! Haha! So here it is - my Moonlight Sonata act!

Full Moon

By Diana Grigore. Source

We finally got a bit of snow here in Sweden, so for this month's full moon music I decided to give you a bit of ballet - Waltz of the Snowflakes from The Nutcracker. I love this one! The music was composed by Tchaikovsky, and here it is danced by The Royal Ballet.

Full Moon

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For this month's full moon, I want to share my favorite song by Queen - The Show Must Go On. Very powerful, and true...

Full Moon

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And so the moon has reached it's fullness once more! The full moon music I'll give you this time is a song by The Smashing Pumpkins. I haven't listened to them so much, but my landlady Fanny plays their music around the apartment sometimes, and they are really good! She introduced me to a song - and it's video - called Stand Inside Your Love. So here it comes, together with the video, which is beautiful!

Full Moon

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One of my favorite authors is J.R.R. Tolkien. He wrote many more things than "just" The Hobbit and The Lord Of Th Rings - often connected with these though. One of his many poems is called The Man In The Moon Stayed Up Too Late, and since this is one of my Full Moon posts, I thought it fitting to publish it today. The picture above is illustrator Alan Lee's vision of the poem. Enjoy!

The Man In The Moon Stayed Up Too Late

There is an inn, a merry old inn

beneath an old grey hill,

And there they brew a beer so brown

That the Man in the Moon himself came down

One night to drink his fill.

The ostler has a tipsy cat

that plays a five-stringed fiddle;

And up and down he runs his bow,

Now squeaking high, now purring low,

Now sawing in the middle.

The landlord keeps a little dog

that is mighty fond of jokes;

When there's good cheer among the guests,

He cocks an ear at all the jests

And laughs until he chokes.

They also keep a hornéd cow

as proud as any queen;

But music turns her head like ale,

And makes her wave her tufted tail

and dance upon the green.

And O! the rows of silver dishes

and the store of silver spoons!

For Sunday there's a special pair,

And these they polish up with care

on Saturday afternoons.

The Man in the Moon was drinking deep,

and the cat began to wail;

A dish and a spoon on the table danced,

The cow in the garden madly pranced,

and the little dog chased his tail.

The Man in the Moon took another mug,

and then rolled beneath his chair;

And there he dozed and dreamed of ale,

Till in the sky the stars were pale,

and dawn was in the air.

Then the ostler said to his tipsy cat:

'The white horses of the Moon,

They neigh and champ their silver bits;

But their master's been and drowned his wits,

and the Sun'll be rising soon!'

So the cat on his fiddle played hey-diddle-diddle,

a jig that would wake the dead:

He squeaked and sawed and quickened the tune,

While the landlord shook the Man in the Moon:

'It's after three!' he said.

They rolled the Man slowly up the hill

and bundled him into the Moon,

While his horses galloped up in rear,

And the cow came capering like a deer,

and a dish ran up with the spoon.

Now quicker the fiddle went deedle-dum-diddle;

the dog began to roar,

The cow and the horses stood on their heads;

The guests all bounded from their beds

and danced upon the floor.

With a ping and a pong the fiddle-strings broke!

the cow jumped over the Moon,

And the little dog laughed to see such fun,

And the Saturday dish went off at a run

with the silver Sunday spoon.

The round Moon rolled behind the hill

as the Sun raised up her head.

She hardly believed her fiery eyes;

For though it was day, to her surprise

they all went back to bed!

Full Moon

And so, yesterday night, my second grandma passed away too... With all the shit that's been happening in my life this summer, I almost long for fall to come... But the moon doesn't care about what happens down here on Earth. She will still continue grow full once every month, spreading her soothing light over us. I think that's a comforting thought. Something secure to hold on to... And for this month's Full Moon post I have chosen a very sad, but still very beautiful piece of music - Mozart's Lacrimosa, from his Requiem.

Full Moon

No full moon music this month - but a full moon poem instead! This is The Moon and the Yew Tree, by Sylvia Plath!

The Moon and the Yew tree

"This is the light of the mind, cold and planetary.
The trees of the mind are black. The light is blue.
The grasses unload their griefs at my feet as if I were God,
Prickling my ankles and murmuring of their humility.
Fumy spiritious mists inhabit this place
Separated from my house by a row of headstones.
I simply cannot see where there is to get to.

The moon is no door. It is a face in its own right,
White as a knuckle and terribly upset.
It drags the sea after it like a dark crime; it is quiet
With the O-gape of complete despair. I live here.
Twice on Sunday, the bells startle the sky -
Eight great tongues affirming the Resurrection.
At the end, they soberly bong out their names.

The yew tree points up. It has a Gothic shape.
The eyes lift after it and find the moon.
The moon is my mother. She is not sweet like Mary.
Her blue garments unloose small bats and owls.
How I would like to believe in tenderness -
The face of the effigy, gentled by candles,
Bending, on me in particular, its mild eyes.

I have fallen a long way. Clouds are flowering
Blue and mystical over the face of the stars.
Inside the church, the saints will be all blue,
Floating on their delicate feet over cold pews,
Their hands and faces stiff with holiness.
The moon sees nothing of this. She is bald and wild.
And the message of the yew tree is blackness - blackness and silence."

Full Moon

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Well, well. Look at that! The moon turned round and full this month too! For this month's full moon music I have chosen I song by Electric Light Orchestra, fittingly called Ticket to the Moon! 

Full Moon

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For this month's Full Moon music, I have chosen a classical piece that gives me the vision of splendidly dresses people, waltzing around in a big, beautiful ballroom! It's a waltz from the suite Masquerade, by Aram Khachaturian.

Full Moon

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For this month's Full Moon post let's go classical again, and listen to Chopin's Nocturne Op.2 No.2. In classical music the term adagio means slow tempo, and when you take ballet classes adagio is also an exercise, which - just like with the music - is done in a slow tempo. Just because you do the movements so slowly, it's a great exercise for both your strength and your balance. When I danced at The Ballet Academy in Stockholm, we always had a live piano player during class, and once when we did an adagio, he played this piece - which I love - and I remember feeling so good dancing to it...