I've been working for years on the idea of how to best express myself as an instrument of the music as a poi fire dancer. I've discovered that one aspect of the development process for cultivating the poi dance performance artist has been focusing on it from a scientific/logical perspective in a "fake it till you make it" sort of way.

Essentially this involves mechanical, repetitive practice of the movements from the perspective of the 7 Layer Dip we use at Temple of Poi. Integrating the ideas/concepts/practices distinguished in the 7 layers into your poi development allows increasingly more artistic movements to become ingrained into the body. With practice these movements begin to flow and do not require thought.

From this place of unconscious integration/competence where the artist knows what they know so well they do not even have to think about it, increasingly more interesting movements will be danced with more unique expression and will naturally flow forth with artistry. As with all practices, artists will find this practice provides a continually path for artistic development.

It is important to look at each of the pieces of the dip as a complete idea of its own, developing that particular layer individually. Having a strong base in each layer makes it easier to achieve results in your development, especially when you integrate the concepts of as many layers as possible (all of the layers, ideally) in each moment of your performance.

The 7 Layers of the Dip are, from bottom (widest) to top (narrowest) in the shape of a pyramid are: Skills Size Height (pretty interchangeable with Size in terms of location on pyramid) Speed Motion Rhythm and Flow Dramatic Presence

last updated: gg 20081113