Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mila Molinari. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Mila, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
I wasn’t very confident with my image and never thought I was beautiful enough as a teen. But when I started to dance and performing I started to like what felt and saw in the mirror because I was pretty good at it and would stand out from other girls in my dance classes. Also learning about how to dress, do hair and makeup, modeling and keeping the practice of talking kindly and loving to myself keeps my self-steem balanced.
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 Hollywood-based Brazilian/Italian Showgirl, Actress, Singer, Dancer and award-winning Burlesque artist.
I combines various different styles in my performances, including feather fan dance, swing & jazz age dances and tap dance, all inspired by carefully crafted world of the glamorous Old Hollywood Musicals with elaborated choreography, costuming and presence. Which sets me apart from anything present including the exotic flavor I bring from my home country combined with my European background and American vernacular influences.
I am a Clown/Magician’s daughter and grew up in Brazil performing and touring with my family’s circus troupe since I was a child and moved to Los Angeles in 2014 and end up touring all over the world with burlesque since then.
What I find most exciting about my career is the fantasy I create for myself and others, including the glamorous costumes I design, exploring different characters, the adrenaline of dancing to the music, the red curtains, hotel rooms, after parties and traveling!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Other than off course working on your craft and always keep learning, I think it’s really important to have focus, persistence and professionalism which includes being on time, being respectful to others (and yourself) and being humble. There will be times when you can get lazy, uninspired or impatient. So just give yourself some space to regain your strength with self care, watch or read things that can inspire you and have faith in yourself knowing that success takes time and you just gotta keep going and never give up on your passions and dreams.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
I think both. Know what you are already good at and keep getting better at it. And whatever skill you think that you are not good enough at, also keep working on it and with time you will be great and build more confidence. Dancing always came very natural to me but I always wanted to sing and act. So my whole life I kept my musical and theater trainings always working on improving my skills. I also had a hard time to act in English, so I put a lot effort in the language and now I feel much more comfortable with speech and take any opportunities to sing that comes to me.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @itsmilamolinari
Image Credits
Catalina Pinotti, Glitz Entertainment, Milloux, Jen Huang, Susana Vestige
