The fear of and fascination with fire is what drew Ellen, also known as "Sowelu," to fire dancing during her first year at Burning Man in 1999. Her first thought, “I wanna do that!” was followed by a trip to Santa Cruz to buy her first set of poi in 2000. Rather than purchasing practice poi, Sowelu's first poi gear was afire rig.

Many bruises later, she discovered softer, more gentle practice poi but still struggled with trying to learn by watching others spin in the park. In 2003, a friend forwarded her a link to classes being taught in San
Francisco by GlitterGirl and the rest is history.

Despite her years in the class room and her recent acquisition of her Doctoral degree, the idea of learning new physical skills as an adult was one that came slowly to Sowelu. The shift in perspective came after a friend taught her how to juggle in a way that broke down the movements into little steps. Through that process, Sowelu saw that step by step learning not only worked well for her, but she could then turn around and teach someone else using that same approach.

The Temple of Poi approach resonated with Sowelu and inspired her to become an instructor for the school in the Summer of 2005 where she is now passing on that method to new students. She finds it a gift to be able to participate in someone else’s learning, particularly in an activity that can be so personal, transforming and joyful.

When not spinning, Sowelu spends her time working in pediatric healthcare, scouring San Francisco for the perfect chai and climbing mountains.