"ness"

There’s an ultra-feminine clothing store here in Edinburgh called “ness” (so cute, it doesn’t need to capitalize) and we won giggles from the store clerk when we dorky Californians posed to take a photo in the storefront.  I’ve mentioned Abby’s use of the word “ness” before in this blog. We define it as the essence, the identity and the positive flowing energy that A Mused Collective generates when we are all creating, dancing and playing music together.  This Edinburgh Fringe experience has made us more clear and confident about exactly what our “ness” is. 

We know that A Mused Collective has always celebrated the goodness, the rawness and the humanness through our work. We are now proud to add: realness, sassiness, quirkiness, connectedness and most importantly, HAPPINESS. We are continually tickled that the biggest risk to take here at the Fringe, or at least the unexpected choice, is to perform a show that is genuinely joyful, where the performers show how much they enjoy performing together. 

We are steadily building our audiences here where nobody knows us. People are always surprised when we tell them that we all have substantial careers outside of A Mused Collective, but that is part of our “ness” too. – that we are driven, ambitious, intelligent and multi-faceted women (and man). We had a funny Scotsman joke that the “Scottish psyche” doesn’t really know how to handle our bubbly, California effervescence. We are winning them over with our athleticism, if not our spunkiness. It’s all a part of this unique and singular culture that is the “ness” of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. 
- Shelly