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I spent last week studying fire dance staff technique with John Butters in Moncton. It was an amazing experience, and I often found myself grinning and hopping up and down from the sheer joy of getting moves working right.
After four days of training, it was finally time to light up. My hair was bound up beneath a wet cotton kerchief, and I wore thick denim pants and a cotton tshirt. I was standing in a gravel driveway. John and Sebastien, two other fire dancers, whipped unlit staves around their bodies with no apparent effort. Safety precautions had been made, and along with having a first aid kit and fire extinguisher handy, a spotter stood ready with a wet towel.
"Do you want to go first?" asked John.
Bear in mind I'd only seen three performances with fire before, not counting raqs sharqi with candles. Also bear in mind that something always goes wrong at one of my dance performances, even if it's just something very minor.
"Sure," I said. I was both nervous and excited. John took me over to the lighting station. He showed me how to dip my staff into the fuel, tap it, and then whirl off the excess. Then he lit the ends of my staff.
The flame fwooshed up. I gave the staff a tentative twirl, and the flames roared white noise into my ears. The fire was very intimidating.
While training all week, I'd been handling the staff fearlessly. The flames threw heat toward my hands, and I found myself holding the staff stiffly, at its centre, and very far from my body.
I gave it another tentative whirl. Fwoosh!
And another. And then, after a while, I actually did some hand changes, figure 8s, and two-handed spins.
When the fuel ran out, it was John's turn. His stick-handling is much better than mine, of course, and I watched, along with a small group of onlookers. We cheered at all the funky manoeuvres, and then it was Sebastien's turn.
Sebastien was a real pleasure to watch. He used a very heavy staff with much larger wicks, and therefore, much larger flames. When he was finished, I got to go again. Emboldened by experience and inspired by John and Sebastien, I decided to get a bit experimental. I passed the flaming staff around my body, spun it around my hands, and even did a few spinning tosses. I loosened up, and let my hands get much closer to the fire. This was great fun! I spun and danced until the fire went out, and then John and Sebastien worked together, throwing their staves way up into the air, and having a mock battle.
And then I was up for my third try. Once again, I decided to go further, but it didn't work out quite as well. I dropped the staff three times, much to my chagrin. But then, just before I was about to try an under-the-leg can-can trick, I felt a sudden, fierce burning on my knee. I stopped immediately and held the staff away from my body. Although I was absolutely certain I hadn't come anywhere close to my knee with the fire, it felt like an ember was smouldering on my skin.
"Ow!" I said. "My knee feels like it's burning."
John rushed over and took the staff.
"Ow! It still hurts!" I stard at my leg in consternation. There were no scorch marks.
And then I heard it: the pissed-off buzzing. "There's a friggin' hornet in my pants!" I yelped. I shook my leg, but the bug was only getting angrier.
I looked around at the various onlookers, some of whome I'd only just met for the first time. "Sorry, guys, but these pants are coming off now!" And I stripped off in the middle of the driveway, amidst loads of laughter.
I shook the pants, but the angry bug was still in there. Finally, I turned them insideout, and a big bee was revealed. I was stung only once, and the stinger must have come right out.
I don't know how a bee ended up in my pants at 10:30 PM in the middle of a gravel driveway when there was lots of smoke and fire. This was certainly the first time I ever had to strip during a dance performance!
I'm just glad I was wearing pretty underwear.
After four days of training, it was finally time to light up. My hair was bound up beneath a wet cotton kerchief, and I wore thick denim pants and a cotton tshirt. I was standing in a gravel driveway. John and Sebastien, two other fire dancers, whipped unlit staves around their bodies with no apparent effort. Safety precautions had been made, and along with having a first aid kit and fire extinguisher handy, a spotter stood ready with a wet towel.
"Do you want to go first?" asked John.
Bear in mind I'd only seen three performances with fire before, not counting raqs sharqi with candles. Also bear in mind that something always goes wrong at one of my dance performances, even if it's just something very minor.
"Sure," I said. I was both nervous and excited. John took me over to the lighting station. He showed me how to dip my staff into the fuel, tap it, and then whirl off the excess. Then he lit the ends of my staff.
The flame fwooshed up. I gave the staff a tentative twirl, and the flames roared white noise into my ears. The fire was very intimidating.
While training all week, I'd been handling the staff fearlessly. The flames threw heat toward my hands, and I found myself holding the staff stiffly, at its centre, and very far from my body.
I gave it another tentative whirl. Fwoosh!
And another. And then, after a while, I actually did some hand changes, figure 8s, and two-handed spins.
When the fuel ran out, it was John's turn. His stick-handling is much better than mine, of course, and I watched, along with a small group of onlookers. We cheered at all the funky manoeuvres, and then it was Sebastien's turn.
Sebastien was a real pleasure to watch. He used a very heavy staff with much larger wicks, and therefore, much larger flames. When he was finished, I got to go again. Emboldened by experience and inspired by John and Sebastien, I decided to get a bit experimental. I passed the flaming staff around my body, spun it around my hands, and even did a few spinning tosses. I loosened up, and let my hands get much closer to the fire. This was great fun! I spun and danced until the fire went out, and then John and Sebastien worked together, throwing their staves way up into the air, and having a mock battle.
And then I was up for my third try. Once again, I decided to go further, but it didn't work out quite as well. I dropped the staff three times, much to my chagrin. But then, just before I was about to try an under-the-leg can-can trick, I felt a sudden, fierce burning on my knee. I stopped immediately and held the staff away from my body. Although I was absolutely certain I hadn't come anywhere close to my knee with the fire, it felt like an ember was smouldering on my skin.
"Ow!" I said. "My knee feels like it's burning."
John rushed over and took the staff.
"Ow! It still hurts!" I stard at my leg in consternation. There were no scorch marks.
And then I heard it: the pissed-off buzzing. "There's a friggin' hornet in my pants!" I yelped. I shook my leg, but the bug was only getting angrier.
I looked around at the various onlookers, some of whome I'd only just met for the first time. "Sorry, guys, but these pants are coming off now!" And I stripped off in the middle of the driveway, amidst loads of laughter.
I shook the pants, but the angry bug was still in there. Finally, I turned them insideout, and a big bee was revealed. I was stung only once, and the stinger must have come right out.
I don't know how a bee ended up in my pants at 10:30 PM in the middle of a gravel driveway when there was lots of smoke and fire. This was certainly the first time I ever had to strip during a dance performance!
I'm just glad I was wearing pretty underwear.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2003-07-23 02:38 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2003-07-23 03:04 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2003-07-23 03:09 pm (UTC)From:Then there was the whole pun on the bees attacking as revenge for you use of them as synonymous for mensturation...
You see my dilemma...
no subject
Date: 2003-07-23 03:19 pm (UTC)From:But strip fire dancing, hmm? It'd be better if I could strip out of a fire suit, I think.
Oh my oh my...
Date: 2003-07-23 03:41 pm (UTC)From: