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!