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Gaia Snowdrop ✺❃✺

@gaiaward

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International Performance Artist. Fire spinner. Contact juggler. Earth enthusiast. Relationship anarchist... Probably an alien... 👽
@kinesis.circus

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I nearly didn't share these, because for so long sexy went hand in hand with insecure for me; plus I was worried the side boob was on the wrong side of tasteful...
But fuck that.
These pictures by @mamuniaphotography are amazing, I can feel sexy for a moment and still be the same silly little me and tasteful or not, who doesn't love a bit of side boob...
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#sideboob #femaleempowerment #amaturephotographer #model #bodypositive #strikeapose #photoshoot #womenempowerment by @gaiaward

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2 years ago

Burning with joy 🖤🔥🖤
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This was my first gig back since my travels, and my only fire gig this whole month (unless something last minute comes in.)
I had the best time, doing a kick ass show with my kick ass boyfriend @elliotcircusarts, wearing our kick ass new costumes made by @laurane.marchive, and now more than ever I'm so grateful for the booking from @blackducksevents!
It seems like the events industry is taking a huge hit as the cost of living continues to rise and the reality is, we are very rarely the 'reason' an event happens, only the finishing touch to add something a bit more special if budget allows. And there's the kicker. Who's got the budget these days?
I'm curious to hear from other performer friends if you've felt the pinch too? And the same from those elsewhere around the world? Is this the case all over or just the UK?
Or is there actually plenty of work, it's just evading me?
Any input would be gratefully recieved 🖤
And to all our wonderful agents and bookers, if you're reading this - we're still here, we're still smashing it and we appreciate every time you put us forward for something. We love what we do, and we wanna keep doing it 🙏
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Incredible shots from @venue_4u - thank you so much 🔥
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#fireshow
#fireperformer #duofire #duofireshow #firespinners #spinnersofinstagram #flowarts #pyrotechnics #fireartiats #firecouple #pyroshow #fireperformers #firedance #firedancer #dragonstaff #partnerpoi #lycopodium #burnoffs #professionalfireshow #partnerfireshow by @gaiaward

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2 years ago

To be human is to be able to hold paradox. Existence within duality is paradoxical at it's core... and at the centre of my paradoxical little universe, is me. Not 'me' bacause I'm special, but me because my reality exists only inside my mind, and within that mind - I AM the centre of the universe. And within your mind, so are you. 8 billion little universes wondering through a nonsense poem we call life trying to make sense of it all...

Sometimes I feel like I'm too many contradictions, too many paradoxs, contained in this tiny stupid meat suit... Sometimes when my over thinking brain lets my anxieties run wild, the understanding that I'm a walking contradiction fills me with dread... Like somehow, I'm living a lie, not fully existing in any one truth and therefore never able to truly know myself, or be known, because everything I want, everything I am, contradicts itself...
Gaia - the lazy circus performer, who wants a forever home and to never stop travelling. The health concious smoker, the exhausted insomniac. Non-monogamous to my core but so in love with my stable relationship. Anarchist law abiding criminal. Career driven but complacent, needing solitude but desparate for community. Filled with joy and gratitude, while overflowing with sorrow and anger... Brave and terrified. Broken and whole. A little bit of everything and not quite anything at all...

But maybe, just maybe that's the point. Maybe it doesn't make me a bad person or mean I'm getting it wrong because my wants, needs and philosophies so often exist at crossroads to each other, a tangle of all-everything in place of one cohesive belief system, trajectory or life purpose....
There's no perfect recipe for life, but maybe embracing contradiction could be the key to finding the most fulfilling way through... Like... If we really are the universe experiencing itself, the best way to eek the most experience out of this life, surely, is to exist in contradiction. To dance on the crossroads of understanding. To know what it is to be and believe both sides of everything...
Life is about balance, and within the contradictions maybe wholeness lies.
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Pictures by the amazing @mamuniaphotography by @gaiaward

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a year ago

Thank you @freedombygk for quietly capturing such a beautiful moment in the Dome this summer at @ozorafestivalofficial - such a nice surprise to stumble on these photos… by @gaiaward

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23 days ago

Pretty sure this has been the most transformational year of my life...
The first 6 months were seemingly relentless lessons in loss, heartache, grief and surrender. I spent them constantly reminding myself that all the radical change and apparent collapse happening around me would ultimately be pushing me towards a brighter future, but was equally exhausted with the fact that in the present moment everything was just shit and painful...
I was neither catapillar or butterfly.
I was soup.
People rarely talk about the 'in the middle' bit of healing and growth - where you're definitely not who you were but you're also not yet who you're becoming... Just a kind of maliable, greyish lump of pain and potential.
I kept saying "One day, a year or two from now, I know I'll understand the 'why?' - but right now it all just hurts".
I moved out out of my magical home, which was So. Fucking. Painful, and got straight on the road.
I dove headfirst into what would turn out to be one of the most life affirming summers I've ever had.
The perfect antithesis to the first half of the year.
What goes up must come down, sure. But maybe what goes down, must come up.

I lived the best (48hr) day of my life, I touched the corners of reality with a smile on my face, danced so many hours with my demons they got tired and left me to it. I met countless incredible people, who inspired me, held me, laughed and cried with me. I had the chance to strengthen and transform existing relationships to heights I hadn't known possible.
I loved hard, and was loved hard.
I experienced some moments that I knew, while they were happening - "nothing will ever be the same again" and that filled me with gratitude.
Life came back.
And with it a new found trust in my intuition and hope for the path ahead.
I'm still soup.
I still have no idea which of the infinite roads in front of me to take.
I still don't know fully who I am on the other side of all this.
But I feel stronger in that uncertainty than I maybe ever felt in what came before.
And not even 3 months after feeling totally lost and hopeless - I was already granted glimpses of the "why" 🩶 by @gaiaward

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a month ago

Times they are a changing... We have some news...

El and I are in the process of decoupling, and we agreed we wanted to make a post about it to let as many people a possible know at once, instead of needing to explain to everyone individually as we inevitably encounter many of you wonderful souls over the busy summer season.

We agreed we don't like the term "break up" because it gives the wrong energy to the choice we've made. It's not the end, it's just a new chapter, a turning page, a new adventure.

The beauty of spending 9 years cultivating a healthy non-monogamous relationship is that for us, the only reason for it to be 'over' between us would be because we no longer love each other and can't be around each other anymore.... This is the opposite of the truth. We still love each other so deeply, and that is actually at the root of the decision we've made to set each other free.

For so many of our shared years, we were on the same trajectory, our wants, needs and desires aligned beautifully and it allowed us to build a life together that was a shared dream - but at some point our hopes for the future stopped matching up and in our struggle to hold on to what we'd created we were actually only succeeding in pushing each other away with our silent expectations and unspoken truths we weren't ready to face.

So instead of destroying what we'd built by holding onto it too hard, we faced those truths and decided to change the story, and in doing so relieved so much of the pressure that was building and allowed ourselves to hold on to the bits that really matter.

We will always love each other deeply, we'll still be working together, laughing together and sharing parts of this crazy dance - but from a different place than we once were...

Of course it's hard, and confusing and sad at times - but more than anything it's just a gift to be able to navigate such a huge life shift with such understanding and compassion.

It's all love in the end, and all will be well.
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These pictures felt strangely fitting, taken at our gorgeous friends wedding last year - that day was a celebration of love, and in its own way, so is this post 💚 by @gaiaward

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4 months ago

I've been a sad gal lately.
But just like the lengthening days, and green returning to the trees - I can feel myself creeping back.
Usually struggle is such a lonely journey, but it's been reflected back to me over and over again recently that I'm not alone.
There's some crazy shifts happening in so many of our lives, in our psyches, and don't get me started on the absolute madness of the larger world stage...
Everything is messy, change is scary and hopelessness is an understandable symptom of existing in the world right now.
But messy can be exciting, change is always necessary and hopelessness can be alchemised.
Go outside.
Hug your friends.
Dare to hope.
And for God's sake... Tell people you're struggling! I'm a nightmare for not wanting to "be a burden" but getting out of my own damn way, and letting the people who love me, love me, and show up for me in unexpected ways because I let them in... has been magic.
And we should all tap into that magic.
The most important thing we have is each other.

To the people who've been there for me this last month in even the smallest ways. THANK YOU.

Anyway - that was a very long and convoluted way of saying "Was sad. Getting better. Thanks to all who helped. The world's a bit fucked. You're not alone. Hug ya mates." 🥴 Sorry...

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This lush photo was taken by an awesome street photographer who stopped me in London @street_styles_london back in January before 2026 had decided we all needed some massive character development archs and I was still all fresh and optimistic haha... by @gaiaward

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6 months ago

Gala Show of @flow.intheforest
with @gaiaward @elliotcircusarts

Follow @flow.intheforest and @yann_delcambre to support

#FirePhotography #JugglingFestival #BritishJuggling by @gaiaward

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9 months ago

9 years. A thousand lifetimes. The blink of an eye.

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It would have been so easy to share these images, and say nothing more than those 10 words.
Easy to have a picture perfect relationship when seen through the lense of social media...
But that wouldn't have been entirely honest, I want to paint an authentic picture of the relationship we've cultivated - not a fairytale.

So this year's photo, taken just 2 days ago, on a grey day in front of our home (instead of at some distant, multicoloured location in the sun) feels fitting. Bittersweet and beautiful.

It's not been an easy year. It's been an incredibly hard one actually, for a multitude of reasons, within our relationship and outside of it. But we're still here. Still smiling. Still choosing each other. Choosing change. Choosing growth. And love is still leading the dance. And that is what matters.

Here's to another year my @elliotcircusarts, it might have been one of the toughest, but also, maybe, the most important one yet.

I love you so much 💚 by @gaiaward

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9 months ago

Happy Buuuuurday my @elliotcircusarts.
33's going to be a big year for you, I feels it in my toes (and the toes knows)
Thank you, for everything.
I love you, for always 💚
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Photos by the magical @thelightscaper
Ruffles by the incredible @shambannie_creations by @gaiaward

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9 months ago

Incredible fire partner poi skills from @gaiaward & @elliotcircusarts 🔥

#FAI #FlowArtsInstitute #FirePoi #PartnerPoi by @gaiaward

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10 months ago

An Ode to Zo.
Happy birthday @zoe_teasle - it was only a few days ago we were talking about poems, and I figured it was about time you had one all for you.
I love you so completely you weirdo 💚 by @gaiaward

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a year ago