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Monday, July 30, 2007
FireGrace Spinning Fire at Bohemia May 06'
This fire spinning show is really entertaining! I am performing along with a great friend of mine MC Fun Young Moon. I spin fire poi, fire contact staff, and single and double fire batons in this video. A woman krishna of Krishna's Body Painting did the artwork on our bodies. Sorry the camera continues to rotate around and around but I am sure that you will enjoy it one way or another.
I am really excited to say that I started teaching baton twirling lessons again. Since I have lived in Tucson, AZ (7 years now) I have only been teaching and performing fire spinning. I have been dancing with fire poi, short staff (batons), long staff (otherwise known as contact staff), and fire fans. Although, for the longest time baton twirling was an enormous part of my life. However, once I moved away from Maryland I never really practiced baton twirling at all... until now! It is so much fun. I feel like a child again. I am really enjoying teaching baton twirling lessons and I expect that after I have my baby (I am due in 5 weeks) I will be teaching many more baton twirling lessons. My plan is to not only teach private lessons, but also to rent studio space and teach group classes as well. I am really excited about incorporating baton twirling into my life again. Of course I will still be teaching and performing fire spinning as well! I hope to have some classes and workshops going again around December or January. Stay tuned!
Tricks that are more difficult and complex can present you with less freedom to move your body and enjoy your practice. You can get really tied up in a trick and then your body really has no where to go to express itself. This limits you in many ways. From the perspective of the audience, as well as the dancer, sometimes the more simple a trick is the more graceful it can be. When your poi and your body have the ability to interact with one another, your performance is that much more appealing. Whether they are moving independently of each other, or they are moving together, you will be able to dance with more ease and grace if you keep the tricks simple and enjoyable.
For a more spiritually enhanced practice you can try to bring intention to your practice. Begin with some basic breath work exercises and some yoga. Taking the time to center yourself and align your body will really affect your practice in a positive way. While you dance and groove throughout your practice continue to breathe deeply and listen to your body. Practicing in this way can be more calming and meditative, and it may allow you to discover new ways of movement that you have not done before.
Try to practice in a way that is healthy for you. You want to be able to create an experience that will give you encouraging feedback. Fire spinning is an incredibly empowering art form but you have to remember to treat yourself and your toys with respect. So learn from each other, learn from yourself and your fire toys, and learn from the fire that burns within you and around you. Dancing with fire is a way to dance with your fears. When you are ready, invite the fire into your life.
I was 7 and a half months pregnant for the filming of this. My friend and I filmed it during a camping trip we took to Mt. Lemmon just outside of Tucson, Arizona. It was made to inspire women to continue their art, especially dance and movement art during and after pregnancy! I am spinning poi, baton, long staff, and fire fans. We are deep in the woods, so the lighting is a bit low, but I believe I still satisfied my mission of creating an inspirational piece despite the lighting issue. I felt like I was smiling the entire time we were filming. It was extremely healing for me to do this. I have been twirling and dancing now for 18 years and I have even won gold medals at the World Championships for baton twirling, but still none of that compares to the way I was feeling throughout this experience. I am stepping into a new realm with my art now and I am happy to say that my pregnancy has played a large role in initiating this transformation. I am constantly searching for a deeper meaning in my art so that I can do my best to reveal the most truths to everyone that shares it. My goal has always been to show people the power and the strength of fire, but I also want people to be able to feel that same power, strength and beauty within themselves. I want people to witness the grace of my dance and the grace of the fire as one entity. We move together because the fire gives me strength and the energy that is created within me as a result causes me to dance and move the way that I do. We must not be afraid of that which we possess, for it is what will guide us to where we need to be. Whether we possess strong anxieties about our current situations, or fear of moving on into the future because we don't want to give up our past, or any other fear that keeps us rooted where we are, we can all find strength in ourselves. When we release our fears, we free ourselves from them and we have the ability to dance along side of them. Instead of identifying with our fears, we need to take hold of them and know that we are in total control.
