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

I recently read a post by a woman who was celebrating her life and experience as she was, completely appreciating her journey even as she noticed her own discomfort. I was quite inspired and wrote a little comment at the end of it that I wanted to share here, for those of you who need a little pick-me-up and a reminder that life is happening right now, in this moment… and this one…. and this one… and this one…

I’m so excited to read your post. As a woman who was a 300 pound couch potato at 22 and now is an internationally renowned fire dancing instructor — hula hoop, poi, staff, fans included — at 40, I’m a walking example and advertisement for “Love your body right now, as it is!” I’m still what most men would objectify as a “fat girl” thought they would say, “a fat girl who can move” once they saw me dance.

And you know what? Who cares? For me, it’s all about the practice of being in my body and getting more comfortable with me every day. The cornerstone of our work at my school, Temple of Poi, is about helping people with their mindset, cause let’s face it — when 40 looms around the corner it is ever so easy to suddenly start thinking about getting old. Biology just starts kicking in and there are things that really begin to make you feel older. So when you stand next to someone else who just somehow doesn’t seem so old or out of shape (or actually isn’t!), it’s really easy to make a big deal out of that because when we’re younger, no one bothered to teach us these three simple rules: Leave your judgment behind; choose your language consciously from a place of empowerment; and compare your self to your self.

The fundamental question I encourage everyone to ask is this: “did you make progress and have fun?” If so, it (class, practice, life) was a success. I have consistently found over the nearly 8 years I’ve had my school - where I do teach people how to safely play with fire in all contexts - that integrating this mindset is pivotal in Celebrating Life In the Moment.

Sure, some part of our ego might want to have that 6 pack after we just gave birth without doing ab work. And, well, that simply may not be what is meant for our experience. Why should I compare myself to that other person whose journey was absolutely nothing like mine? How does that serve? So if you’re looking at helping your own psyche, I offer you this mindset (written in more detail at on the Temple of Poi website) to help you embrace the You that You are right now even as she grows, evolves, changes and becomes more than she was moments ago.

I first started dancing at Sunset Parties the day before my 29th birthday (if you’re not up for the math, that’s 1998). One of the things I really loved about it was that I was in the midst of a bunch of dancers vibing off their energy and that was feeding my dancing. Of course, I didn’t really start relating to it that way until much later when I reflected back on it and started to realize how much I really like to dance.

As I started to play with poi, my poor skill and the subsequent space requirements at dance parties relegated me to the back corner of the room. Ug. What a bummer. I was not able to play in the crowd and rather than being one of the dancers on the floor hanging out with my friends and vibing off the flow of the crowd, I was one of the side attractions on the way out the door.

For my 40th birthday, I went to LA and visited with Randy and Spencer and we went to Billy’s Society party. I had a great performance, and, later on in the night was even more fun. I can recall the two of them sitting on a couch in a narrow hallway on the way to the rest rooms and I wanted to be spinning and not sitting down. So I just started whipping out my ogg poi in the narrow hallway. On one side was a glass fronted display case and the couch on the other. Between the couch and the display case was perhaps 2.5-3 feet of space.

At that point, I was playing with being able to do moves and interact with people as they were walking to the bathroom. It was a fun little game and it was so interesting to see how different people responded — some fearful, but most playing with me and moving with me as I was doing my tricks because they recognized I was very aware of them and they could see I was skilled with the poi.

I’ve been out dancing a few times since then and done this a little bit, but last night something amazing happened. I was with my Illuminaughty crew — my first Burning Man family — at the Dia De Los Muertos fundraiser. The space was small and the sound system was intimate, so I really wanted to be on the main dance floor. And, I wanted to be dancing with my poi. And there really was no space for me to go for it with long poi. And, I wanted to dance with my friends. Later, at the afterparty , with an even smaller dance floor and disco ball overhead, I was in the same situation.

I started playing this game of, “How Close Can I Get?” And I had some huge breakthroughs! Because of the tiny space, I would go between dancing without the poi and dancing with the poi wrapped up in my hands. What I noticed is that I really started using my body in new and different ways with the poi because I was both watching out for hitting my friends while also trying to really go for it and maintain my high NRG dance style. I was amazed by how small a space I really needed to be able to flow with the crowd and I had an awesome time just being one of the dancers on the dance floor AND also using my poi at the same time. I was right in the midst of dancers — not up against a wall, at an exit, or even off the main floor like I was in the past. The dancing was really much more body oriented than normal and the movements, while fun, were much more in connection with the flow of the dance floor itself than in connection with the tricks of the poi, even though I definitely did some tricky things.

If you’re a dancer and you get all juiced by being on a dance floor, there is nothing like being in the midst of “your people” and playing with your poi. Of course, you have to get competent enough with the poi to do this. . . which is the game.

And, I really have to admit, I wouldn’t do this with the same level of NRG I had last night on just any old dance floor. These people know me and trust me with my poi and are also somewhat forgiving (well, very forgiving — thanks Chris!) if I brush their legs  with the poi. Still, it’s a game worth trying for all your poi dancers out there!

Have fun and I hope you end up as happily sore as I am today!

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. 

Blazing balls, staves, swords, fans and hula hoops will be dancing ecstatically around San Francisco’s Union Square, as dozens of choreographed fire-dancers perform in celebration of National Dance Week.  ”This will be the largest gathering of internationally renowned fire dancing artists ever assembled for a free, legal and public show in the Western Hemisphere - so far,” said Isa “GlitterGirl” Isaacs, event promoter.

The Temple of Poi 2009 Fire Dancing Expo & 7 Year Anniversary is one of 15 free events selected as a Bay Area National Dance Week Corner Stone event - for the third consecutive year - and is also appearing on the Jewels in the Square city sponsored program.

Starting at 7:50 pm Saturday, April 25th, this 4th annual fire flow-arts spectacular will involve 2 hours of jaw-dropping fire performance created by international fire dancing legend’s from Scotland, Japan, France, Sweden and various cities in the US. The event also features 5 student acts from 3 time Best of the Bay winning San Francisco based dance school, Temple of Poi.

”Permits and personnel necessary to create this event costs over $2000 and most artists can’t afford that. The creation of this show is a tremendous leap forward in the efforts to legitimize fire dancing by creating the opportunity for artists to legally bring their work out of parking lots and share it on landmark stages like Union Square.” says Isa, founder of Temple Of Poi, celebrating 7 years the night of the show. Isa continues, “People experience an almost mesmerizing thrill as we weave and wrap our flaming toys around our bodies in a choreographed and synchronized dance.  It is an ecstatic celebration of beauty, human potential, and artistic expression.”

The art of fire-dancing has exploded in popularity in the last 5-7 years, partially fueled by the 50,000 plus yearly attendees to the annual, week-long Burning Man festival held in Nevada, in which fire-arts are celebrated.

Isa, or “GlitterGirl” as she is known to her peers, founded Temple Of Poi in 2002 to teach people how to spin the flaming poi as a way of unifying their body, mind, and spirit; combining dance, self-expression, and physical vitality. Students support their physical practice through mind expanding concepts delivered as 3 principles reverently called “The Flowology Mindset™.” “We’re facilitating an experience wherein practitioners discover how to free their creative juices and embody them through movement and we start by encouraging people to create the mindset that promotes fun,” said Isa.

“I have been fire dancing for about 4 years. I am currently taking a performance class which will culminate in a performance in San Francisco,” said student performer Susan “Tiger Lily” Drews Watkins who will be appearing in 3 student pieces on the 25th. “All training is done with safety as a priority for everyone; the fire classes are taught with thorough instruction on handling fire, fuels, tools, clothing, and procedures. It is really thrilling and beautiful to watch the fire fly while you move and dance!!”

Temple Of Poi dancers have wowed audiences at parties, corporate events, and community gatherings throughout Northern California, with Isa herself appearing internationally. In the 7 years since starting the school, over 1300 students have learned the art of fire dancing at Temple of Poi and thousands more worldwide share this opportunity through detailed online video courses on the Temple of Poi website.

Bring a chair and blanket and enjoy this free event suitable for all ages. Event details, artist photos, videos and biographies are available at: http://TempleOfPoi.com/events/expo09.php

Temple of Poi
953 Mission Street, Suite 11
San Francisco, CA 94103
415.424.8581
bandw@templeofpoi.com
http://templeofpoi.com/events/expo09.php

Media Contact: Isa “GlitterGirl” Isaacs

Our experience in life is like climbing a mountain range. At some points, we’re at basecamp, at some points we’re on the road, and at some points we’re on the peak. Most of the time, we’re in the middle — sitting on the side of the mountain somewhere.

It is so easy to look below us and see where we’ve been — celebrate it, laugh at it, mock it, notice it, learn from it, wish for it — whatever it is… It is so easy to just focus on that place where we were. Similarly, it is so easy to focus on climbing the mountain and getting to the peak — “I will only be <blah> when I have gotten to <blah>.”

But life isn’t really like that. You get to the peak, you look around and you realize how beautiful it is. And then you realize there’s another mountain. Do you stay on the peak? No way. You move on and climb another in the range, or maybe move on to the different mountain range altogether.

Yet when you’re on the mountain looking up at the peak, it is sooooo easy to just focus on, “I need to get there.”

In my experience, when we focus on either the bottom of the mountain — where we’ve been, the past — and the top of the mountain — where we’re going, the future — we miss out on the fullness of our experience.

I believe life’s journey is about being with the fullness of the experience by concurrently holding all of where we have been and all of where we want to go while fully enjoying this moment of travelling from one to the other. It is about flowing through all the sensations that arise when we think of the past and future and being in the sensations those thoughts generate now. It is about owning what we have been and what we want to be and recognizing the actuality of the now. It is about containing within us all of the mystery and majesty of the unknown while also recognizing what is known. 

For years, I’ve been inviting people to leave their judgment behind as a part of their practice. I had always spoken about the difference by distinguishing judgment and assessment. I just read a passage from Nonviolent Communication which I believe sums this up quite well. 

Quoting from Nonviolent Communication, Page 14: 

“It is important here not to confuse value judgments and moralistic judgments. All of us make value judgments as to the qualities we value in life; for example, we might value honesty, freedom or peace. Value judgments reflect our beliefs of how life can best be served. We make moralistic judgments of people and behaviors that fail to support our value judgments, e.g. “Violence is bad. People who kill others are evil.” Had we been raised speaking a language that facilitated the expression of compassion, we would have learned to articulate our needs and values directly, rather than to insinuate wrongness when they have not been met. For example, instead of “violence is bad,” we might say instead, “I am fearful of the use of violence to resolve conflicts; I value the resolution of human conflicts through other means.”

page 14-15