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Under My Umbrella
Artistic development platform for Ballroom artists
Founder & artistic lead
2023–ongoing

posters from Under My Umbrella: Cabaret Night (2024)

Ballroom has long been a site of innovation, nurturing creativity across dance, performance, fashion, music, and language. Emerging from the margins, it has always generated new forms of value, expression, and belonging outside of institutional recognition. Just like an umbrella, Ballroom also forms a space where we can escape the rain. It welcome and celebrated what is often overlooked or misunderstood – our cultural backgrounds, identities and gender expressions.

Under My Umbrella builds on this legacy. Founded in 2023, it creates opportunities and provides a stage for the Ballroom artists and dance makers to develop their craft into established artistic and choreographic practices beyond the Ballroom scene. The platform focuses on creating space to experiment and create, rethink existing practices, and open new possibilities for how performance can be imagined within professional contexts. This way the platform aims to function as a bridge between Ballroom and the wider cultural field.

At its core, Under My Umbrella operates collectively. All roles, from organizing to performing, are held by members of the ballroom community, ensuring that the platform remains rooted in the knowledge, creativity, and agency of the scene itself.

Collaborations include:
Makers Track (2026)
Maaspodium, Gemeente Rotterdam and Fonds Podiumkunst

After Sunset (2025)

Depot Museum Boijmans van Beuningen

TO THE T Club Night (2025)

Motel Mozaique Festival

My First MOMO (2025)
Motel Mozaique Festival

Under My Umbrella: Cabaret Night (2024)
Het Cultuurfonds and WORM Rotterdam

Kunsthal Friday Night Live (2024)
Motel Mozaique Festival

Feeling Curious Festival Opening (2024)
Theater Rotterdam

Rotterdam Pride Opening (2023)
Kunsthal Rotterdam

Under My Umbrella performance evening (2023)
Motel Mozaique Festival

TO THE T Club Night (2025)

Picture: YSN Studios

TO THE T – Calling all divas dolls and demons

In their third collaboration with Motel Mozaique Festival Under My Umbrella decided to celebrate Ballroom’s birth place, the nightlife. TO THE T club night gave the commentators, the voices of the scene, a center stage.

Commentators: Legendary Typhoon Angels Baquiat, Unbothered Basquiat, Zayzay Garcon, Maybelline Garcon
DJs: Frandy Perez, Seven Angels, Arakaza
Performance: Production as a House – House of Makaveli

Under My Umbrella: Cabaret Night (2024)

Pictures: Charlie McKee

The second performance evening of Under My Umbrella explored the ballroom category Sex Siren, engaging with themes of sex, sensuality, intimacy, power, and seduction. These themes are often projected onto or predetermined for BIPOC, queer, and trans people, as well as women. In Ballroom, however, the category of Sex Siren creates space to reclaim and redefine sexuality on one’s own terms. Much like cabaret during the Harlem Renaissance, Sex Siren offers Black and queer performers a platform to explore sexuality and sensuality through performance. Reflecting this lineage, this edition of Under My Umbrella embraced a cabaret setting, presenting performances ranging from singing and dance to spoken word.

Performances included:

Singer-songwriter KYARA
‘Slow Down’ by Jowi
‘Welcome to Cabaret’ by Nubia Genesis
‘The Movement of Self-Discovery’ by Delilah, Otmar and Dalvin
‘Release’ by Chanel
“Red” by Mystique Angels

Motel Mozaique: Friday Night Live (2024)

Pictures: Melanie Marsman

In their second year collaborating with Motel Mozaique Festival Under My Umbrella was invited to choreograph a piece for the Sylvie Fleury’s exhibition Yes To All. This work called One explores the idea of unity and ‘one body’ through posing and vocabulary of New Way Vogue.

Concept and choreography: Miila Kaarina
Performers: Shiva Miyake-Mugler, Qotton Telfar, Miila Kaarina

Feeling Curious Festival opening intervention (2024)

Under My Umbrella was invited to choreograph the opening intervention for Feeling Curious Festival at Theater Rotterdam. Emerging from the crowd, the performance celebrated Ballroom energy through its three styles: Old Way, New Way, and Vogue Fem.

Concept and choreography: Miila Kaarina

Performers: Michael “Alphaomega” Lubbers, Bella “Dolce” O Pattinasarany, Danijel “Yugo Basquait” Petrovic, Iris Mia Illari Zambrano Vera, Sandra “Suzume” and Miila Kaarina
MC: Maybelline Angels
DJ: Seven Angels

Under My Umbrella performance evening (2023)

Under My Umbrella performance evening trailer by Anaïs Saebu and Chris Groos

The first edition of Under My Umbrella performance evening was organised as part of Motel Mozaique festival and took place at an old electricity station Baanhof in Rotterdam. Five short performances were selected through an open call. Perfromances included:

‘Nos Bida’ by Shaquille “Caramel Basquiat”
‘The Body’s Language’ by Sary
‘Blend’ by Naimah Janse and Elejandro “Elly Vineyard” Martinez
‘Finding Blood’ by Anh Khoa Trân “Khoriander”, Michael “Alphaomega” Lubbers and Jordy “Bodega” Jansen
‘Time for T’ choreographed by Bella “Dolce” O Pattinasarany icw the dancers Marie-Léa Morales, Jordy “Bodega” Jansen, Danijel “Yugo Basquait” Petrovic

Host: Maybelline Angels
DJ: Seven Angels

Rotterdam Pride Opening (2023)

Under My Umbrella was invited to curate a selection of performances for the Rotterdam Pride Opening night at Kunsthal showcasing the following works:

‘Finding Blood’ by Anh Khoa Trân “Khoriander”, Michael “Alphaomega” Lubbers and Jordy “Bodega” Jansen
‘Time for T’ choreographed by Bella “Dolce” O Pattinasarany icw the dancers Marie-Léa Morales, Jordy “Bodega” Jansen, Danijel “Yugo Basquait” Petrovic

Host: Maybelline Angels
DJ: OISHI