I'm grateful to have spaces to make art that's alternately silly, beautiful, sexy, and emotive. That's a special thing, and especially necessary right now.

And in the same show, I got to be my most sultry self - someone literally yelled, "You're so sexy!!" as I left the stage! 😂❤️ Thanks to everyone that came to Raks Inferno last night, and to my incredible cast and crew.

Last night I closed the show with a piece that captured my feelings about this moment in Chicago & federal agents terrorizing us and then moved into fierceness, strength, & fight. We gave our audience whistles as they left, 3D printed for us by @bibliogrrl.bsky.social.

Tonight!

Chicago: Experience an intimate circus cabaret, produced by an immigrant, with an almost entirely BIPOC + LGBTQIA cast/crew that's performed all over the world. Tonight: Joy is resistance. 🔥 raksinferno.com/shows

So last night I actually remembered to ask the client how he found us. Him: ChatGPT. Me, internally: 😯🤯 Apparently it suggested fire & then suggested us specifically. I have feelings about ChatGPT but I think this still equals winning? 😂😅

We're recommended by the Chicago Reader! Join us for joy, hope, and sexiness. 😉 Get your tickets! raksinferno.com/shows @raksinferno.bsky.social

It's been such a wild week that I never posted this backstage shot. Here you go! Tonight's gig = fewer feathers but A LOT more fire. 😄🔥

When Ammunition gives you that look. 🔥 Had a blast spinning fire for a party on the south side last night!

I love my awesome friends! 🔥🔥🔥

(More fire. 😄)

Thanks to everyone that joined us Saturday for @raksinferno.bsky.social's secret Halloween fire party! What a blast! Also: WE RAISED $451 for @icirr.bsky.social! They run the ICE rapid response network in Chicago & have been the key player in getting Know Your Rights info out to communities. 👊

I AM MAD WITH POWER! 🤣🔥 When the folks at your fire gig ask if you want to play with their flamethrower after your performance, you say YES. 😂 (Show tonight with @raksinferno.bsky.social!)

Romeoville Halloween Fest! That was fun. 😄 Featuring: @dawnxianamoon.bsky.social + @michitrota.bsky.social

You haven't lived until you've seen the most badass, sparkly striptease followed by a yo-yo at a million miles an hour accurately flicking a POKER CHIP from behind a willing audience member's ear. 😂 Many thanks too to my incredible team both onstage and off. You all are the absolute best. ❤️

@raksinferno.bsky.social performed at the most epic fire gig last night - there was a 12 foot bonfire and I GOT TO SHOOT A FLAMETHROWER! *cackles* 🔥😂

Here for @raksinferno.bsky.social ! #RaksInferno

I only go to weddings where they have lightsabers ready as prizes for winning vintage arcade tournaments. 😂

Chicago: Join us for community, hope, and badassery from internationally-touring performers! Friday, Sept. 12: @raksinferno.bsky.social Cirque Burlesque. Joy is resistance. 🔥 raksgeek.com#shows

"If you need to stop an asteroid, you call Superman. If you need to solve a mystery, you call Batman. But if you need to end a war, you call Wonder Woman." - @gailsimone.bsky.social @michitrota.bsky.social as Wonder Woman. Photo by Genito Photography.

We got press!

It's the summer of libraries!

Backstage shenanigans!

Thanks so much to everyone that joined us last night, and to all of the amazing folks in @raksinferno.bsky.social both on- and offstage. I appreciate you all. ❤️

(Performing with video projections at the last Raks Inferno.) Chicago: Join us next week for Raks Inferno: Cirque Burlesque! It's hope and it's sexy and it's badass. July 11. See you there. RaksInferno.com/shows

Joy isn't frivolous - it's essential. We have to remind ourselves of what we're fighting for. And we have to hope - a thing with grit, a thing with teeth - that even though it's dark, eventually, we will win.

"Hope is a muscle, a discipline, a habit. Something that we train. And it has to be strong enough to break the chains on our minds and on our bodies." - Janaya Khan One of the many things both activists and scholars on authoritarianism agree on is the importance of art in these times.

"Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear." - Nemik's manifesto, Andor Raks Geek founder/director @dawnxianamoon.bsky.social as The Bellydancing Wookiee.

Chicago: Join us next Friday, July 11 for a stunning, intimate show with burlesque, bellydance, and more! @raksinferno.bsky.social Cirque Burlesque Joy is rebellion. RaksInferno.com/shows

In just one week … and one day! Raks Inferno (@raksinferno.bsky.social) shows are unlike any other! Go to raksinferno.com/shows for tickets. #RaksInferno

Dancing to my music! @raksinferno.bsky.social got to perform at a site-specific event in a park with 6 other Chicago dance companies - it was lovely but insanely hot, haha. Grateful for the opportunity to introduce more audiences to fusion bellydance! www.instagram.com/p/DLQ2QSss5_U/

Happy Pride! (Video from @raksinferno.bsky.social )

I'm always trying to bring this dance form to the general public and other dancers - educating audiences about fusion bellydance is one of my personal missions. Grateful @raksinferno.bsky.social got to be a part of an event with six other Chicago dance companies!

Dancing to my music! Clips from @raksinferno.bsky.social rehearsal this afternoon - we're at See Chicago Dance on Tuesday. Choreographed and pulled this together in two weeks! 🕺Shenanigans with Lee Na-Moo 🎶 "Introduction to the Apocalypse" by me

The world is a lot right now. But joy is resistance. Especially in spaces where we can remind each other we're not alone.

🌈 Chicago: I'll be back at the Newport on Friday - join us for @raksinferno.bsky.social: Pride Cirque Burlesque at 7pm! raksinferno.com/shows

Experience queer joy. Celebrate Pride with a burlesque circus speakeasy featuring multiple Burlesque Hall of Fame winners and LGBTQIA performers who have headlined international festivals. Joy: This is how we win. 🌈 Get 10% off tickets. Join us - Pride sells out every year! raksinferno.com/shows

He was also invited to teach and perform at the 7th International Oriental Festival in Spain. He has also toured with Bellydance Evolution in Morocco, Germany, and the Czech Republic as a teacher & performer and was nominated by the Chicago Reader as "Best Choreographer" in 2019.

Chicago: Experience queer joy with Lee and the rest of our internationally-touring cast! Our Pride show usually sells out! 🌈 Friday, June 13: Raks Inferno: Pride Cirque Burlesque. Get 15% off tickets! Use code PRIDE (ends Sunday). RaksInferno.com/shows

Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month with main company member Lee Na-Moo! Internationally known, Lee Na-Moo (he/him) combines bellydance with contemporary dance, ballet, jazz, hip-hop, and several Asian styles. He won the Chicago Oriental Dance Competition, which brought him to audiences in Argentina.

Getting to dance to my own music is pretty special. ❤️ I've been trying to find ways to integrate my bellydance and singer-songwriter selves more over the last two years, even though in many ways they're not immediately obvious fits - they're pretty different parts of my personality.

Photos from @raksinferno.bsky.social by Genito Photography.

Chicago: Join us next month for burlesque, cirque, and Pride! Raks Inferno, Friday, June 13. 🔗 Get your tickets soon! Pride usually sells out. raksinferno.com/shows

Ranked internationally in the top 50 "Most Influential Burlesque Artists of 2018 & 2019," Gaea has performed, taught, and headlined all over the world, notably at the Burlesque Hall of Fame 2016 where she won "Best Debut" and "Most Classic," and headlined across Italy.

We're so excited that Gaea will be back in town for Pride! Gaea Lady is an enchantress by nature, a force that will make you feel the earth move. She fuels her passion for life into performance art, mentorship, silk veils, fire dancing, hoops, bellydance, and burlesque.

May the fourth be with you!

Chicago: Celebrate Asian American badassery with us this Friday! We need joy + hope in moments like this. 🔥

Celebrate AAPI Heritage Month, cirque-style!

Sometimes you need to inhabit a song that makes you feel strong. 💪 A little improv from tonight.

Behind every film/video project (dance or otherwise) is a slew of challenges overcome, including weather - the wildest bit for this one was the tornado that formed in the ocean, visible from where we were filming! (Fortunately we were pretty far away.) Got a sec between takes to film this clip!