Fire moves like an organic creature. It dances to its own tune. As a fire dancer, I find myself responding to fire more and more as a partner. I dance with it as it dances with me. I cannot control it. I can influence it and in turn, it influences me. A dangerous and advanced dance partner. How wonderful! How wild! Ah ah!

The heat, the light, and the sound… fire dancing is an immersive experience. I thoroughly enjoy it.

The first time I can remember really being awed by a fire performance was at Beta Nightclub in Denver sometime back in the summer of 2009. I couldn’t tell you the name of the event or the music being played, for I do not remember. There must have been twenty performers on stage that night. Almost all of them were good performers, but not great.

A good performer is a performer that can show up and do their job. The audience might be distracted by them for a few moments, but at the end of the night a good performer’s actions are forgotten and dismissed, lost in time as an afterthought of the attendees.

A great performer… now that’s something else entirely. A great performer can trap you in the moment, creating an experience of wonder and amazement. A great performer can cause you to get sucked out of a mundane existence and plummet into a world of creativity, power, and imagination. A great performer can inspire you!

You will remember a great performer.

There was a great performer at Beta that night. I remember being in awe of the sheer speed of the spinning fire as it danced around his body, never touching him, and only a hair’s breath away. His awareness of movement was evident. You could see hours, days, weeks, months and years of training flowing out of each push and pull of his limbs. It was a showcase of the capabilities of the human body.

I was amazed. I was inspired. That night planted a seed of desire inside of me. I would dance with fire someday. I didn’t know how, but I would figure it out. A year later, I picked up my first set of poi and in doing so, I set sail on my journey to become a great performer.

A quick look back at the performances of last few weeks:

Burning Man was, and always will be, quite an experience. It propels me towards new inspirations. It was a tough year, and definitely worth it. I camped with Raised by Wolves and I’m looking forward to performing with them in the future. Such artists!

My fire conclave, Fractal Tribe, is amazing. Such experienced performers! I am honored to have been included in their performance.  We performed exceptionally in front of tens-of-thousands of our kin. It was quite a sight. If you’ve never seen acro-fire performances, I recommend that you find a way to.

In no particular order, in the last month I have performed as Whomp Bot, a Minotaur, a break-dancer, a stilt-creature, a DJ, a biohazard dancer and as myself. I have stepped up my performance training to 22 hours a week and I’m hoping to break 25 hours a week by the end of the month. The constant training is showing in my performances. I’m heading in the right direction.

Going forward:

Freak Night is coming. My new creation, Diamond Heart awaits…