Meet Leila Magnolia

We recently connected with Leila Magnolia and have shared our conversation below.

Leila, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

Resilience is a word I often associate my maternal side of me with. . .

I come from a lineage of woman who have had very traumatic up – bringing, and have grown up with stories of their strength overcoming limitations due to their physical disabilities, mental illness, financial background, dysfunctional family dynamics, and Latina heritage.

When I think of resilience, I think of my mother, my Abuela, my Tia Abuela, my sister, and myself. All unique to their own experience, I find that I carry on every day despite set-backs, and challenges on my path. Just like they did, I have chosen to find a path forward, moving on, as best I can, to persist in my own journey, and live life the way I see fit.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am a multifaceted artist who has devoted the past decade to visual – story telling and new age circus arts.

I have traveled across boarders, performed for internationally renowned festivals, lived in circus residencies, have built a global community through sharing my passion for movement, and joy in up-lifting others to pursue their dreams in the arts.

In the last year, I have co-founded Fae Risqué, a New England based dance troupe, with two other dance partners. We create transformative performance art by combining our knowledge of the flow state, improvisation, and somatic movement with our training in dance styles such as fusion, modern, heels, burlesque, gogo, fire and flow arts.

In 2023 we made our debut performance at Electric Forest where we provided stage accompaniment for Chmura Music. Fae Risqué has also been a radiant presence at festivals including Envision Festival, Elements Music Festival, Texas Eclipse, Winter Wakeup, and more. Additionally, you can find us collaborating with productions such as Art Life Studios, Cult of Art, and Debo Ray Music.

We believe that movement is medicine. Our mission is to empower individuals, nurture creative connections and inspire transformative experiences through the magic of movement.

Currently, I have moved back to the New England area after a year of travel, to pursue this project with more heart, body, and spirit than before. It is my guiding star, a dream I have held very close for as long as I remember. Though, I had no idea it would take this form; the alignment of Fae Risqué was birthed after the death of another very difficult part of me life. I saw, and believe truly, that what was shed before this project, was giving me the space to go through another door after the other one had closed.

I am so excited to be working closely to my troupe, and bring multidimensional performances in the next season!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Three qualities that have propelled me into the performance world…

1) Practice : Everyone starts somewhere, and usually this base must be fundamentally developed before creating in your own flavor. I did not have a heavy dance background, and in fact, I did not like practicing things I felt I wasn’t good at as a kid or adolescents. However, when I was 22, I found myself in a circus residency in Nicaragua (long – story of synchronicities) and felt a surge of inspiration like never before. Beginning from scratch, I started training, practicing strength, flexibility, even getting into classes of expression and clowning. It was enriching, however, the key once exposed to these tools, was to take what I’ve learned and practice. This became even more clear when I started coaching at a rhythmic gymnastics gym by age 23. Every skill required repetition, and dedication to learning from failure. Practice makes progress…

2) Interpersonal Relationships : One of my strongest qualities that I know I value and have been able to maintain is connections to others, effectively communicate, and collaborate. Many opportunities I have pursued through reaching out, being authentic in making the connection, and asking for what I want. Always know what it is I am offering in exchange for opportunities, and maintain genuine care for other humans in the process of working together. Many gigs have come through because of my network I have developed.

3) Patience : The journey is long, and many things will come through as they should. There will be big opportunities that come & go, there will be unforeseen circumstances which feel like failures, and other curve-balls that can hinder the feeling of progress. My ability to keep faith, and remind myself that this doesn’t happen at the same pace as others, and even in comparison, you never know how long the road has honestly been for others you admire. In being resilient, I find that it takes patience, and grace, to persevere. Every body, mentality, and spirit is unique, and takes their own time to develop. Visions I’ve held for years have come out of the blue in manifestations profound and almost unrecognizable at times in their arrival. Recently, I have had the notion, that despite my ambitious proactive nature, some of the best things have come to me when I have let down my guard and surrender. In doing so, I see that sometimes allowing manifestations to come in their natural shape and form over time is what is needed for personal growth. Be gentle, be patient, be true to you authentic self. Often, this is when magnetism is at its strongest.

What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?

A year ago, I was going through a break-up with a long-term lover, death in the family, and had chosen to quite my job I held on-and-off for the past 7 years.

It was truly the closing of a chapter that I was holding onto with dear life, until I decided it was time to let go.

Grief was present in every corner of my heart and mind. Everyday I felt it so deeply, and as frightened as I was when seeing the life I knew slip away; I looked forward to how this change could catapult me into something new and alive presently.

I had not been single for many years (5 ) and I had a new freedom having quit my job. I had enough saved up to spend the summer as I wished, and had been introduced to a new community during this time.

I was immersed in the world of ecstatic dance, and polyamory; Everything about consent culture, effective communication, and embodied expression was now being brought to my attention like never before. Finding that the rules in certain containers, relationship dynamics, and connecting with others in trust and safety, expanded my heart. In learning more about what feels authentic to myself, I found myself using my voice more, practicing speaking to my truth, and creating more clarity for boundaries and desires.

I reconnected with my own sense of self ( untangling myself from my past partner) and rediscovered what feels authentic to me, found joy in experiencing the world while learning, and ultimately healed a lot of repressed parts of self that was afraid to reveal herself.

Specifically, I became more courageous in contact dancing with other partners – I had a fear for a long time that I was too clumsy and uncoordinated to get close to others. I found encouraging friends, very trust worthy people, who would remind me “Don’t worry, We’re just playing” ignoring my missteps or ignorance in partner dancing. It was very encouraged to keep practicing, be patient, non-verbal communication, and developing connections through play.

It reminded me who I was: A enthusiastic, joyful, silly, emotional, embodied, human who wanted contact, closeness, and intimacy with others.

It allowed me to see where I need to develop more as well : Using my voice, discernment, and practicing boundaries.

It is still a long journey ahead that coincides with my artist journey. It is the healing journey, which I will always see as learning opportunities to expand my body, heart and mind.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Beren Jones Photography (First photo with sword / trio photo)

Olivia Moon (Second photo with foot hooping)

Michael Lezama (Portrait third to bottom)

Jeff Evrard (Last two photos)

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