Poi Fire Dancing Spinning Performance & Twirling (Hoop Staff Fans Also)

A modified version of this article first appeared in the Winter/Spring Kindle Fire Arts and Culture magazine. A limited number of these are available now and you can get yours today at the Temple or have it mailed to you. 

The Ego of Performance

I’ve been watching the unfolding in the flow arts community for the past 9 years and have noticed the most consistent of things in every one I have ever met: we all have egos. You could say it is a performer thing, but the reality is, it goes way beyond that - it is a human thing. Being a performer simply puts our egos in the forefront of our experience because we’re putting ourselves out there - at which to be looked, hopefully admired and eventually, critiqued.

When I was younger, I had mistakenly thought the idea of having an ego was a “bad” thing. Over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to learn a few things about that thinking. These distinctions I offer to you now.

Ego Is Necessary

Ego is a very necessary aspect to our self-identity. It is the part of us that allows us to individuate - to separate from our parents, our families, our friends and our community. Having a healthy and strong ego allows us to take pride in ourselves, to love ourselves, to get up and look at ourselves in the mirror and appreciate who we see, what we create and how we go about being the person reflected back at us. In that sense, ego is a very necessary part of who we are.

The ego itself helps us sculpt the unique essence within each of us and while it might be true to say we are all the same and we are all one, it is equally true to say we are all different and we are all unique. As my friends the Shamanic Cheerleaders say:

You are a freak… just like everyone else.

You are unique… just like everyone else.

Having the ability to navigate the reality of our simultaneous conditions of sameness and differentiation relies on a healthy and present ego. Our sameness has us recognize that one being has the same inherent right to life as another and that nothing anyone can say or do can take that away from each human. A life is a life and our ego is here to preserve that sense of life. In this way, we are all the same.

Now the other side of this equation — the part about our differentiation — that’s where it seems the challenges begin. It is so easy to be in a space of openness and love for all humanity when we look at each other as a part of our selves and see that we are all one. Yet differentiation is the thing each of us brings to this world that no one else can bring because we are each unique in what we have to offer.

How then do we begin to differentiate ourselves from other people and performers without getting on an ego trip about it?

Facts vs. Opinion

I think the biggest answer to this question comes by understanding the difference between reporting and interpreting. Reporting involves observing what is going on in a situation and giving a detailed account of what one has witnessed. In contrast, interpretation assigns meaning to the things that have been experienced.

To make this more clear, let’s imagine Sally is reporting about a fire dancing show:

I watched a fire dancing show that ran for 2 hours. There were over a dozen acts from around the world and I counted at least 500 people in attendance.

Now imagine Linda giving her interpretation of the same fire dancing show:

I saw a long show with lots of artists and a huge crowd. There were a bunch of performers who are really well known who did a really awesome job.

This table may help illustrate the difference between the two accounts.

After examining the statements, you may begin to notice the general difference between a report - statements of fact that can be confirmed- and an interpretation - opinions based on interpretation of the facts. 

Why Reporting vs. Interpreting?

When a person reports what they see without interpretation, it can be very useful feedback for the performer. It can assist the artist in getting an accurate and clear reflection of what their performance looked like. When a person offers an opinion about the performance, it opens up a whole other can of worms. Each of us has our own idea of what works and doesn’t work in performance. Some people prefer to watch an artist who dances, some people prefer to watch an artist that does cool tricks, some people like to watch an artist that creates a spectacle of themselves as they perform.

When we give and get feedback from other artists, it is important to understand the criteria the viewer is using when making their determination about our show. Knowing what the standards are can help us understand the feedback in a way that is useful. 

Put differently, if an artist were to say, “He wasn’t very good,” after watching a performer, I have to ask, “Good at what? What were you looking for? What do you value?” Since we all have our own preferences, the opinions we offer are generally based on the preferences we have. The reality is, there is no objective criteria by which all artists can be assessed. Put differently, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and art is about creating beauty.

I tell my students when they begin studying with me to use self-to-self comparison through time rather than self-to-other comparison to measure their progress. Because each of us is unique, our journey and skills with learning and performance will also vary. It is therefore, in many ways, useless to compare ourselves to others.

On the other hand, comparison to others helps us grow by allowing us to recognize where other people are creating and performing things that we can learn from. By assessing another person’s performance and recognizing what is effective v. ineffective — an assessment of the nature of the experience — we can grow in our own practice.

Ultimately, feedback allows us to grow. It is a necessary part of our process and allows us to see blind spots where we might not have known them to exist. Through a more clear picture of what we are doing in our performances, we can begin to expand our experience and grow in our artistry. 

6 Helpful Tips for Giving Feedback

Here are some tips to use when giving other artists feedback.

•       Get permission first.  If you are offering feedback to someone else and they are not interested in receiving it, this can create an uncomfortable dynamic and waste time. Be sure that the person you are communicating with actually wants to receive your feedback.
•       Choose your words intentionally. When giving and receiving feedback, remember to differentiate between what is factual (”you only did 7 different moves and you repeated them again and again”) versus opinion (”you don’t do many moves”).
•       Balance the feedback. It is equally important to give critical feedback as it is to give positive feedback. Critical feedback allows artists to grow while positive feedback keeps artists encouraged by their accomplishments so far. 
•       Feedback is contextual. That is, the standards by which you offer critical feedback to an artist spinning for 6 months versus 6 years are likely to be different. Consider carefully to whom you are talking and what feedback will be most useful for their current level of skill and experience. 
•       Sandwich the critiques. Psychological studies indicate that offering positive feedback, then constructive criticism followed by positive feedback is often the easiest to take in. Think of the positive feedback as the bread and the constructive criticism as the messy stuff in the middle. Just as the bread helps transport the messy stuff in the middle, the positive feedback helps artists take in the critical stuff.
•       Remember the journey. Learning, in any context, is like climbing a mountain. You could focus only on the mountain peak, yet this will only have you focused on the future and the destination. You could also focus only on the view below, yet this will only have you focused on the past and where you have come from. The journey of learning is about balancing your perspective so you keep the destination in site while remembering where you’ve been and always appreciating exactly where you are: on the road of discovery. 

It is with deep thanks that I write this blog entry for two fabulous emcees for the Temple of Poi 2009 Fire Dancing Expo & 7 Year Anniversary – my friends, teachers, students and personal inspirations Miss Rosie and Matthew “Maestro” Freedman. 

In the tradition of ladies first, let’s start with Miss Rosie. Miss Rosie is an International Hoopdance Hero. She is the founder of Hero Hoops, and is a beacon of positivity, joy, and empowerment for all. She regularly teaches hoopdance for men, women, and children around the Bay Area and across the U.S. For those wanting to share their love of hoopdance, she offers a hoopdance teacher training program in San Francisco. 

And now, Matthew “Maestro” Freedman. Following his initial seduction by flame at the 2004 Burning Man festival, Matthew trained at the Temple of Poi and has been an active fire performer in the Bay Area.  His experience includes public performances with the Temple of Poi, appearances at the Crucible’s Fire Arts Festival and the Burning Man Fire Arts Expo, participation in the 2006 BomTribe Burning Man conclave, and starring roles in the “Oedipus Sex”(2005), “Burning Hope, Naked Fear” (2006) and “Infernal Conception” (2007) Burning Man fire operas.  Matthew has assisted in organizing the Solar Flare Burning Man Conclave since 2007 and participated in two international tours during 2008 — the Laughing for Life circus (Thailand) and the Dreamtime Circus (India).  He serves on the Board of Living Dream Arts, a nonprofit organization bringing circus skills education and performance to children and communities around the world.  Matthew enjoys choreographing seductive duets and developing innovative polyrhythmic poi sequences.  In his spare time (and when not on an extended sabbatical), he advocates for sustainable and affordable energy policy as an attorney representing the interests of California consumers.

In case this is useful for anyone else in the community creating an event, I thought I would post it here. This is the final version of the essay we used to get the fire permit for the Temple of Poi 2009 Fire Dancing Expo.

—
Temple of Poi 2009 Fire Dancing Expo

This event will run from 7:50 pm to 10 pm.
We will have 25 acts and 47 performers.
Acts will use fire poi, staff, hoop, swords, fans and torches.

Fire Tool Description and Use:

Fire Poi:
Description: a ball of cotton and Kevlar wrapped around a bolt attached to a swivel then a chain and then a handle. Chains vary in length from 1.5-3 feet.
Use: poi are swung in circles, dragged across the body, wrapped around the body and sometimes (rarely) tossed and caught.

Fire Staff:
Description: a wooden or metal tube is connected on each end to Kevlar and cotton wicking that is bolted to the tool. Staves vary in length from 2 feet (often used as double batons) to 6 feet. Tubes may be straight or curved.
Use: staves may be used 1-4 at a time. They are spun around the body, rolled on the body, passed and sometimes (rarely) tossed and caught.

Fire Hoop:
Description: fire hoops are tubes that are made into circles that vary in diameter from 18 inches (for hand hooping) to 4 foot. Attached to the outside of the hoop are wicks — metal “poles” attached to the tubing that have wicks made of cotton and Kevlar that are bolted onto the poles. Hoops may have from 3-8 wicks on them, depending on size.
Use: hoops are spun around the body, on the body, artists step through the hoop, and they are sometimes (rarely) tossed and caught.

Fire Fans:
Description: Fire fans are metal objects shaped like large hands with wicks attached to the end of long “poles”. Wicks are again made of cotton and Kevlar. The length of the poles can be anywhere from 10 inches to 2 feet. Fans are often used in pairs. Fans can have from 3-6 wicks on them.
Use: fans are dragged on the body, swung in circles, spun around fingers, passed and sometimes (even more rarely than other tools (I’ve never seen it)) tossed and caught

Fire sword:
Description: sword “blades” are covered with Kevlar and cotton wicking from the handle to the end of the blade which can vary in length from 16 inches to 4 feet.
Use: They are swung, spun, dragged and sometimes (even more rarely than other tools (I’ve never seen it)) tossed and caught

Fire torches:
Description: a piece of Kevlar and cotton wicking is attached to a metal pole. Poles may vary in length from a few inches to multiple feet.
Use: they are swing, spun, dragged and sometimes tossed and caught.

Limitations:
Artists have agreed they will not toss and catch lit fire tools.
To be clear, we will not be using any tools other than the tools listed above. There will be no tools using compression of fuel (propane or otherwise) including but not limited to flame throwers. None of the artists will be breathing fire.

Safety information:
Located on the Post Street side of the square, behind (but not blocking) the
elevator area, on the Powell street side between the concrete wall and the
metal barrier will be the tool area; to the right of it (Toward the Stockton
Street side) will be the fuel area and farthest toward the Stockton Street
side will be the spin out area. This area is will be barricaded with steel
barricades.

This tool, fuel and spin out areas will be covered with dry wall on the
bottom as well as in the back. Dry wall will be used to catch the drips and
splashed during spin out and tool dipping. We will post no-smoking signs in this area, in addition to having a safety team member guard the area.

This area will be guarded by a fire safety team member. Additional team
members will be posted around the stage and we will have 4-5 people on the
stage at all times. Between the safety team and the audience will be more
steel barricades. Audience members will be a minimum of 15 feet from the artists on stage with steel barricades between them and the performers.

The trained safety personnel will be using duvetyn (fire treated safety material) to extinguish the devices using a smothering method. In addition, we will have one 2A10BC or better rated fire extinguisher present in the upstage stage left side of the stage. In addition, we will have one steel garbage can with a lid to be used for containment (which will not be necessary). This will also be located in the upstage left side of the stage. There will be 5 safety crew members on the stage. One in each of the four corners and an additional person in the upstage left side of the stage. In addition, we will have a crew member by the fuel area assisting and guarding the fuel depot.

Between the walls on the Stockton street side of the stage the performers
will warm up. This area will also be behind steel barricades. Performers will be wearing natural fibers (rather than synthetics).

Acts:
Banyan (Chicago) - staves
Bliss Butterfly (Sacramento) - staves
Cyrille (France) - poi
Dai (Japan) - staves
GlitterGirl (San Francisco) - poi
Grimm and His Babies (Cincinnati) - fans
Cirq d’ Optiq [ICoN & Jen] (Philadelphia) - poi and hoop
Isopop [Rich & Josh] (San Luis Obispo) - hoop
Lena & Pi (California) - fan
Manda Lights [Forka, Ima, Maelle & Meast] (France) - fans, staff, poi
MCP (Scotland) - staff, sword
Mireneye (Sweeden) - poi
Ms. Jamie “Sparkaluscious” Luv (San Francisco) - poi, hoop, staff
Plenty (San Francisco) - poi, hoop
Poki (Oakland) - torches
Rovo (Albany) - poi
Thomas from Nevisoul (Sweeden) & Alien Jon (USA) - poi
Vatra (San Francisco) - poi
Vulcan Crew [Krissy & Jordan] (Oakland) - poi
Yuta (Japan) - poi

In addition, the show will feature 5 student all poi performances by:

Nick Griffin
FireFlyGirlz (Susan & Brenda)
Divine Light (Nicolle, Marla & Brenda)
Supreme Beings of Fire (Susan, Michael, Melinda, Karishma, Brenda, Audrey, & Entropy
Dark Side of the Rainbow (Vlad, Susan, Shelly, Phoenix, Michael, Mallika, Jen, Beautium & Entropy)

Yesterday, April 24, 2009, started Bay Area National Dance Week, an annual 10 day celebration of diversity in dance where over 350 classes, events and performances are offered around the Bay Area. Bay Area National Dance Week runs April 24 to May 3, 2009 and is celebrating its 11th event in 2009. Temple of Poi has been an active participant in this event for the last 5 years and 2009 is no exception. By now, if you’re reading this, I’m sure you’re aware of the Temple of Poi 2009 Fire Dancing Expo — one of Bay Area National Dance Week’s 15 Cornerstone Events (despite the misprint in the event guide indicating it was a Cornstone Event )– which will be held tonight, April 25, 2009 at 7:50 PM in Union Square. For those of you who are interested in actually taking some classes though and getting started with a new, fun, dance practice, join us for one of these free classes taught by Temple of Poi founder, Isa “GlitterGirl” Isaacs:

Free Introduction to Poi Fire Dancing classes will be held – Attend these free classes, register and pay on the spot and get a spot in an available Beginner Moves Class series for 50% off ($90 instead of $180) or pay a cash deposit of $40 and the price is reduced to $120:

4.27.09 @ 6:15 - 7:00 PM
4.27.09 @ 8:00 - 8:45 PM
4.28.09 @ 7:05 - 7:50 PM
4.28.09 @ 8:00 - 8:45 PM

Free Introduction to Hoop Fire Dancing classes will be held:

4.27.09 @ 7:05 - 7:50 PM
4.28.09 @ 6:15 - 7:00 PM

As we continue with our artist profiles for the Temple of Poi 2009 Fire Dancing Expo & 7 Year Anniversary, we spotlight our last performer in the show, event producer and Temple of Poi Founder, Isa “GlitterGirl” Isaacs. 

Isa’s transformation from a high-tech corporate couch potato klutz to an internationally renown fire dancing icon has inspired people from all walks of life to believe in the possibility of creating a life that has passion and purpose. While she considers herself a fun, skilled, entertaining and awesome poi, hoop and fan dance performance artist, Isa’s work as an entrepreneur and instructor bringing these arts into the public is a far more unique aspect of her contribution to the flow and fire arts community.  

In her quest to help people experience more freedom through flow, Isa founded Temple of Poi. The school and community empowers artists to gain greater facility with their body movement and increase body awareness through the use of poi and other flow tools as well as developing their practice. Isa’s work extends beyond the tools themselves and her focus is on personal development and self transformation using the metaphor of toys as a way of developing a more wholesome life practice. 

As an entrepreneur, Isa was able to draw upon distinctions from her diverse background and 15 years of experience in systems engineering, computer consulting, customer support, courseware development, training, marketing, project implementation and department management. While her career in the computer industry garnered her financial success and various awards for performance excellence, Isa sought to integrate her artistic passion and creative desires with her entrepreneurial spirit which has resulted in building the premier poi school in the world.

In addition to her corporate career, Isa spent over 25 years exploring various music projects and instruments including voice, flute, electronic music composition, and has written, recorded and published a CD of original songs performed on piano. Initially drawn to San Francisco dance parties because of the music, she began dancing to the electronic beats in 1998 and after two years, she found poi. Over the next two years, she developed and honed her artistic skills and after leaving her corporate job in February 2001, she became a professional poi fire and light dancer in February 2002. 7 years ago, on April 25, 2002, Isa taught her first official poi class and by Summer of 2002 she had named the teaching facility Temple of Poi.

Since then, she has worked with thousands of individuals around the world concentrating her work in the Bay Area with hundreds of clients who practice with her regularly over the years. As an instructor, her work is about helping people empower themselves to be more expressed, have more fulfilling lives, face adversity courageously, be fully embodied and live authentic lives that flow from a place of integrated mind, body and spirit practices.

Temple of Poi has emerged as a popular dance studio in San Francisco and Isa will be taking her work around the USA this summer, offering Boot Camps in Chicago, Dallas and Bend (and maybe more places to come — contact her for classes in your city). Isa, also known by her performance name “GlitterGirl”, has been internationally recognized as a dance performer, appearing as a finalist in the Circle of Lights 4 and Circle of Lights 5 videos and has won three local Best of the Bay awards, including “Best Dance Studio.”

The historic 2009 Expo is the 9th not-for-profit show she’s produced in Union Square and is the culmination of her work, so far, in the flow and fire arts community. This event, like the previous 2 Fire Dancing Expos, is funded by her and the community and has been selected as a Cornerstone Event by National Dance Week. In addition, this is the second show she has produced as part of the City of San Francisco’s Diamonds in the Square program.

When she is not teaching, performing or developing Temple of Poi, she can be found pursuing her own evolution and development in body, mind and spirit, bringing the wisdom she gains to the school and community.

Enjoy these additional clips of Isa performing.

As we continue with our artist profiles for the Temple of Poi 2009 Fire Dancing Expo & 7 Year Anniversary, we spotlight a phenomenal object manipulator and local favorite from Oakland, Poki.

Matt “Poki” McCorkle found poi about 7 years ago. One day, while playing with his poi, Matt was bit by the performance bug. This bug perhaps rekindled a childhood passion for the stage lights. Pretty soon, poi turned to club swinging, diabolo, juggling, unicycling, miming, hats, clowning, hoop isolation, and more.

Matt was born in Sebastopol, CA, spent some time in Davis, and now resides at the Vulcan studio in East Oakland. Matt has performed all over California and was a judge at the “FIre Idol” competition in Black Rock City, NV.

Currently, Matt performs juggling/vaudeville with the Code RED: Circus Conspiracy.
He teaches private classes in circus performance at his studio in East Oakland. Matt enjoys silent films, bicycles, and hats.

Enjoy these additional videos of Matt.

I spoke with Captain Matthews at the fire department yesterday (4.23.09) in response to the letters I sent. The good news is we have the permit for this event.

The not so good news is that they have decided we need a 15 foot barrier from the stage on ALL sides. What this means is that where, in the past, we’ve had people coming right up to the edge of the stage and foot of the stairs on the sides and on the corners in the front, we can not do that this year. There will be 10 additional feet from the bottom of the stairs on all sides.

I’m bummed about this because it means we can’t really make eye contact with anyone and it dramatically reduces the space where people can be for the show == smaller capacity to accommodate good views for the show. However, we will have chairs, so it is my hope that with the chairs in place, we will be able to accommodate what I anticipate being a phenomenally large crowd. 

With respect to the request for the new criteria in writing, Captain Matthews had this to say:

I can’t give you that information until the fire marshal has an opportunity to review the guidelines. They will eventually be on our web site.

When further pressed for a specific time, she said she could not make any guarantees because the Fire Marshal of the SFFD (Barbara Schultheis — 415.558.3200) had to review the guidelines that are being created, though she eventually said this:

It will probably be in place within the next month or two.

I have heard from multiple people in the SFFD that Ms. Schultheis is not in favor of fire dancing at all and she might be making a movement to eliminate it altogether in the city of San Francisco. Obviously, this does not make me happy. I will be contacting Ms. Schultheis next week after the show is complete to explain to her that if people can’t get permits they will renegade and this is probably not something anyone wants.

Check back here for more updates.

As we continue with our artist profiles for the Temple of Poi 2009 Fire Dancing Expo & 7 Year Anniversary, we spotlight returning performer Jenni Van Tassel who will be performing with her partner Mike ICoN as Cirque d’Optique.

Jenni Van Tassel has been a classical dancer and musician since the age of 4 and a performance artist since the age of 10. A New York City native, Jenni has performed and choreographed with numerous dance and theatre companies, and drum corp.

After moving to Philadelphia in 2006, Jenni discovered the Philadelphia Experiment burner community and Philadelphia Fire Arts, where she performed in the 2008 Philadelphia Burningman conclave and will be performing and co-choreogaphing the 2009 Philadelphia conclave; merging together her passion for dance and theatre with a passion for fire and object manipulation.

Jenni now performs with the newly created Cirque d’Optique as well as other performance troupes throughout the east coast. From this pointe, she has evolved into an eclectic performer, pushing the boundaries of both mind and body through a birage of elements, captivating a plethora of audiences, and bringing a certain and very necessary, mystique to the stage.

As we continue with our artist profiles for the Temple of Poi 2009 Fire Dancing Expo & 7 Year Anniversary, we spotlight international legend, Meghan Claire Pike - MCP, returning for her second appearance in the Expo.

Meghan is travelling object manipulator, searching for something that she only seems to find in practise. She has a university degree in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence (BSc Hons) from Edinburgh University and has made a successful tutorial DVD on staff spinning and manipulation. She also has a tutorial website for many facets of staff spinning. A compulsive video maker, she is reasonably well known on the internet, but nothing can prepare you for meeting her in person.

Having just come back from seven months in Australia. She has a new dedication to pursuing movement arts and performing arts. She also changed her mind about vegans.

She was born in Edinburgh, but was raised by wild haggis in the deep forest across the bay from Findhorn. Unfortunately, the haggii only had English accented audio books to teach her to read, so even thou she is deeply nationalistic, she has no discernable Scottish accent.

Enjoy these additional videos of Meghan. 

As we continue with our artist profiles for the Temple of Poi 2009 Fire Dancing Expo & 7 Year Anniversary, we spotlight international legend, Yuta, returning for his second appearance in the Expo. 

Yuta is japanese and has been spinning poi since 2003. He has travelled around the world performing and offering lessons as well as building community and inspiring others. He has created a website, poicommunity.com  for spreading beautiful poi culture and connecting people.

Enjoy these additional videos of Yuta.