Dancin’, singin’ and sparkles
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The group’s final blog of the year has been penned by Lead Artist Katy Wilson who writes about the mums and babies getting the glam cabaret experience.
And there was dancin’ and singin’ and movin’ to the groovin’ – even through the hard times.Dancing and singing and music have been vital to the group this year. I have never before felt the absolute transformative power of music so intensely and clearly.
Music has made us all feel good.
The kids creative instinctive dance moves, their confidence with instruments and their blossoming singing – speak volumes. Visiting musicians, dancers and artists who work with kids regularly have commented on the noticeably good rhythm the babies have, and the confidence the wee ones have socially and with exploring instruments and spaces. People have been impressed that they know how to make their voices heard , how to move and know what they like as individuals
As we are all growing as parents and as people in different ways all the time, and the group has been going for over a year it felt right to take a step outside our comfort zone for a few weeks and into the world of Cabaret –(actually this might have been in a couple of the group’s comfort zones, you know who I mean) with cabaret artist Markee De Saw. Markee is her real name – de Saw is for stage … and she does play the saw!
I learned from Markee that Cabaret is about empowerment, about being whoever you want to be. About choice – choosing something wilder – choosing the way you walk, choosing the way you hold your head. The group acted out the personas they thought important at that space in time – we were BUSTED (the band- I was bassist) we were royal , we were caring nurses.
We were always sparkly.
We had lovely chats, about feeling like an outsider, ways of trying to fit in or not, and making this a safe space to be whoever you want .
We played with wilder, bolder looks and ways of being.
Personally I learned from high school how to blend in for survival (5 of us wore identical pink and purple anoraks- ahhh the 90s ) and its hard to break out of that sometimes even now… not the 90s that’s easy I think ( oh gosh am I stuck in the 90s?) I wore orange sparkly lips to a regular meeting a couple of weeks ago….
Parents can feel a bit invisible after having a child and this group is great for letting young mums (and their babies) know that their opinions count, their ideas count, voices count – that we hear them and their kids and we see them.
Jassy took these amazing photos too
At the start of next year we are going to get down to some serious PLAY – remind ourselves how seriously important it is for everyone.
For now we have a wee break for Christmas. it can be a hard time! It’s intense and full of expectations that are not always met- it can be a fraught for kids too – at this age the fuss is probably quite confusing. So go easy on them.
Last year Christmas really didn’t work for my family – my kids and me didn’t even make it to dinner… Don’t take everything you see on social media as a real representation, its people showing the best little snippets. Pressure is hard for everyone. Go easy on yourselves .
Put some good tunes on
Stand up tall
And in the words of Markee de Saw…Remember if life gets you down, there ain’t nothing a pair of glittery lips can’t fix.
Katy