Fire Dancing Lessons at Temple of Poi

If you are new to fire arts and are looking for more detailed information about lessons, this article will help, discussing the following topics:

What are fire dancing lessons?

Fire dancing classes teach artists how to swing objects soaked in fuel and lit on fire around their body safely. At Temple of Poi, in the Bay Area, we teach over 30 different poi classes, several hoop classes, and some staff classes and we offer comprehensive beginner video training and practitioners outside the San Francisco Bay Area.

Most classes are taught without using fire so students can comfortably learn the skills before lighting their tools on fire and risking injury.

Why take fire dancing lessons?

People take classes for a variety of reasons, including:

• understanding their body more
• exercise and fitness
• repetitive stress injury recovery
• having a fun communal experience with other people seeking the same thing
• honing skills
• learn to become performers
• to safely dance with fire

What and how fast you will learn taking fire dancing lessons

At Temple of Poi, fire dancing classes focus on learning how to flow with the movement in a personalized, safe and communal environment. For beginners learning how to dance with fire, our systematic approach provides a clear, proven path to safely playing with fire in 10 weeks or so.

Poi artists begin with the Beginner Poi Moves Class -- this introduction to fire dancing class is 6 sessions teaching new artists the basic skills necessary to manipulate the poi and begin considering the art of fire dancing without using fire and risking injury. As an analogy, think of the Beginner Poi Moves Class like you're in an English class learning what letters and words are -- the basic building blocks (in the case of poi, in all directions) of communication.

Once the basics are mastered, students then move on to the Beginner Poi Dance Class which is a 4 week series focusing on the dancing part of fire dancing. The first two weeks teach you how to connect the moves together -- like putting the words into sentences -- and the second two weeks focus on preparing you for performance by having you perform for the class -- like creating a poem or story and reciting it.

Students often take the Beginner Poi Dance Class concurrently with the Beginner Poi Fire Dancing Class, (and receive a discount when registering for them both at once) though some people take one before the other. We recommend, if you have to take one before the other, you take the Beginner Poi Dance Class before you take the Beginner Poi Fire Dancing Class. The Beginner Poi Fire Dancing Class runs 4 weeks. The first class is an 80 minute lecture focusing on fire safety and fire dancing permit information. The second class teaches you how to build your own fire tools and the 3rd and 4th classes find students extinguishing fire, performing fire safety for others and fire dancing.

How to choose the fire dancing classes appropriate for you

While some organizations will run fire classes 2 times a week, Temple of Poi prefers to offer students classes 1 time a week. Evidence indicates scheduling practice time between classes is important and we have found a single class a week often allows students more time to practice which leads to more comfort later with the fire dance.

If you haven't played with poi at all, the best class for you is the Beginner Poi Moves Class.

If you know some poi, but do not have independent control of each hand (stalling with one hand at a time), can't do moves in both directions, or feel that you learn slowly, we also recommend the Beginner Poi Moves Class.

If you have taken beginner fire dancing classes at other San Francisco locations and are looking to get a greater understanding of the connection between moves, the Beginner Poi Dance Class is for you.

If you are looking to light up for the first time and are comfortable with your poi, the Beginner Poi Fire Dancing Class is for you.