Fire dancing - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Fire dancing is a group of performance arts or disciplines that involve manipulation of objects on fire

Fire

Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....

. Typically these objects have one or more bundles of wicking, which are soaked in fuel and ignited.

Some of these disciplines are related to juggling

Juggling

Juggling is a skill involving moving objects for entertainment or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling, in which the juggler throws objects up to catch and toss up again. This may be one object or many objects, at the same time with one or many hands. Jugglers often refer...

or baton twirling (both forms of object manipulation

Object manipulation

Object manipulation is a form of dexterity play or performance in which one or more artists physically interact with one or more objects. These can be special props made for the purpose of the manipulation itself - such as balls, clubs, hoops, rings, poi, staff, devil sticks, etc. - or any other...

), and there is also an affinity between fire dancing and rhythmic gymnastics

Rhythmic gymnastics

Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which individuals or teams of competitors manipulate one or two pieces of apparatus: rope, clubs, hoop, ball, ribbon and Free . An individual athlete only manipulates 1 apparatus at a time...

. Firedancing is often performed to music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

. Fire dancing has been a traditional part of cultures from around the world, and modern fire performance often includes visual and stylistic elements from many traditions.
Fire dancing is a very dangerous performance art, and fire safety

Fire safety

Fire safety refers to precautions that are taken to prevent or reduce the likelihood of a fire that may result in death, injury, or property damage, alert those in a structure to the presence of a fire in the event one occurs, better enable those threatened by a fire to survive, or to reduce the...

precautions should always be taken.

Fire apparatuses

The various tools used by the fire performance community borrow from a variety of sources. many have martial sources like swords, staves, poi, and whips, where some seem specifically designed for the fire community. The use of these tools is limited only by the imagination of their users. Some tools lend themselves to rhythmic swinging and twirling, others to martial kata, and others to more subtle use. Some common tools are:

Poi
Poi (juggling)
Poi refers to both a style of performance art and the equipment used for engaging in poi performance. As a performance art, poi involves swinging tethered weights through a variety of rhythmical and geometric patterns. Poi artists may also sing or dance while swinging their poi...

- A pair of roughly arm-length chains with handles attached to one end, and bundle of wicking material on the other.
Staff - A rod of wood or metal, with wicking material applied to one or both ends. Staves are generally used in pairs or individually, though many performers are now experimenting with three or more staves.
Fire hoop
Hooping
Hooping generally refers to artistic movement and dancing with a hoop used as a prop or dance partner. Hoops can be made of metal, wood or plastic. Hooping combines technical moves and tricks with freestyle or technical dancing, and is typically accompanied by music...

- hoop with spokes and wicking material attached.
Fans
Fire Fan
A fire fan is a fan, constructed out of welded metal and Kevlar wicking. They are used for fire dancing and performance.-Belly Dance:Fire fans are often used in belly dance, especially in tribal fusion belly dance styles...

- A large metal fan with one or more wicks attached to the edges.
Fire umbrella
Fire umbrella
A fire umbrella is a fire dancing tool. It is made from an umbrella with the rainproof cover removed. Kevlar wicks are attached to the ends of the umbrella, soaked in a fuel, and then lit on fire.Although this fire art is rare, it is quite beautiful to watch...

- an umbrella that has the cloth removed, with kevlar tips.
Fire meteor - A long length of chain or rope with wicks, or small bowls of liquid fuel, attached to both ends.
Nunchaku
Freestyle nunchaku
Freestyle nunchaku refers to the use of the nunchaku weapon in a more visually stunning, rather than combative way...

- Nunchaku with wicking material, usually at either end.
Batons
Fire stick - Like a traditional devil stick, with wicks on both ends of the central stick.
Torch
Torch (juggling)
Torches are juggling props used in many toss juggling routines. Juggling torches are essentially a club or stick on which the 'far' end is an attached wick.- Wicks :The two most common wicks used with juggling torches are:*Kevlar para-aramid*Cotton...

- A short club or torch, with a wick on one end, and swung like Indian clubs
Indian clubs
Indian clubs belong to a category of exercise equipment that was popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Europe, the British Commonwealth and the United States. They comprise bowling-pin shaped wooden "clubs" of varying sizes and weights, which are swung in certain patterns as part...

or tossed end-over-end like juggling clubs.
Fire-knives - Short staves with blades attached to the ends and wicking material applied to the blade. Fireknives are the traditional Polynesian
Polynesian culture
Polynesian culture refers to the indigenous peoples' culture of Polynesia who share common traits in language, customs and society. Chronologically, the development of Polynesian culture can be divided into four different historical eras:...

fire implement and have been in use since the 1940s.
Fire rope dart
Rope dart
The rope dart or rope javelin , also known as Jōhyō in Japanese,is one of the flexible weapons in Chinese martial arts. Other weapons in this family include the meteor hammer, flying claws, and chain whip...

- A wick, sometimes wrapped around a steel spike, at the end of a rope or chain ranging from 6–15 feet long, with a ring or other handle on the opposite end.
Fire sword - either a real sword modified for fire, or one specifically built for the purpose of fire shows.
Chi ball/Fire orb - 2 rings or handles with a wick attached between them by a thin wire.
Finger wands - Short torches attached to individual fingers.
Palm torches - Small torches with a flat base meant to be held upright in the palm of the hand.
Fire whips - Lengths of braided aramid
Aramid
Aramid fibers are a class of heat-resistant and strong synthetic fibers. They are used in aerospace and military applications, for ballistic rated body armor fabric and ballistic composites, in bicycle tires, and as an asbestos substitute. The name is a portmanteau of "aromatic polyamide"...

fibre tapered to make a bullwhip
Bullwhip
A bullwhip is a single-tailed whip, usually made of braided leather, which was originally used as a tool for working with livestock.Bullwhips are pastoral tools, traditionally used to control livestock in open country...

, usually with a metal handle about 12 inches long.
Jumblymambas - a triple ended fire object for juggling, twirling and manipulation
Fire cannons - a propane flame effect device; larger ones can shoot a pillar of fire up to 200+ feet in the air, although they usually are mounted to a base or vehicle.
Fire poofers - Similar to fire cannons, but much smaller and made to be held, with fuel stored in a "backpack" fashioned of one or more propane tanks.
Fire Balls - Specially constructed juggling balls, either solid balls dipped in fuel and juggled with protective gloves, or ones designed to contain the flame in the centre of the ball.

The variety of available tools took a sharp swing upwards in 2000, and as the numbers of dedicated fire tool makers increased, many makers added their own ingenuity to the art and expand the performance potential even more. Frequently, new tools appear from home tinkering and enter the public domain after a few performances.

Materials and construction

The typical construction of fire performance tools involves a metallic structure with wicking material made from fibreglass, cotton

Cotton

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....

, or Kevlar

Kevlar

Kevlar is the registered trademark for a para-aramid synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed at DuPont in 1965, this high strength material was first commercially used in the early 1970s as a replacement for steel in racing tires...

blended with fibreglass, Nomex

Nomex

Nomex is a registered trademark for flame resistant meta-aramid material developed in the early 1960s by DuPont and first marketed in 1967.- Properties:...

, and other poly-aramid

Aramid

Aramid fibers are a class of heat-resistant and strong synthetic fibers. They are used in aerospace and military applications, for ballistic rated body armor fabric and ballistic composites, in bicycle tires, and as an asbestos substitute. The name is a portmanteau of "aromatic polyamide"...

s. Kevlar-blend wicks are the most common, and are considered standard equipment in modern fire performance. Though most wick suppliers refer to their wick simply as Kevlar, almost no suppliers sell a 100% Kevlar wick, which is both expensive and not particularly absorbent. Most serious contemporary performers avoid cotton and other natural materials because such wicks disintegrate after relatively few uses, and can come apart during use, showering the performer and audience with flaming debris.

A typical poi construction would consist of a single or double-looped handle made of webbing, Kevlar fabric, or leather

Leather

Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...

. This is connected to a swivel and a length of chain or cable. This chain or cable then connects to another swivel, and then to the wick, which is made out of tape wick (a wide, flat webbing made of wick material), or rope wick. The wick material is typically folded or tied to a central core in either a knot or lanyard-type fold.

The chain or cable can be anything from stainless steel

Stainless steel

In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....

wire rope (preferred by some for its low cost, light weight, high strength, and almost invisible profile, but not by others because it tangles easily) to dog chain (preferred by some for its heft and low cost) to industrial ball chain, which is the most common chain for fire performance equipment. Made of nickel

Nickel

Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...

-plated steel, stainless steel, or black-oxide brass

Brass

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...

, ball chain in the #13 to #20 size ranges provides excellent strength, a fluid feel, and great tangle prevention. Since every link on the chain swivels, one can eliminate dedicated swivels from a design, and body wrapping and chain wrapping moves become much easier. Extra cost and a higher weight to durability ratio are the biggest downsides to ball chain.

A fire staff typically consists of a long cylindrical section of either aluminium tube (lighter, more suitable for fast-spinning tricks) or wood (heavier, more suited to 'contact' moves in which the staff retains contact with the performer throughout the trick; see contact juggling

Contact juggling

Contact juggling is a form of object manipulation that focuses on the movement of objects such as balls in contact with the body. Although often used in conjunction with "toss juggling", it differs in that it involves the rolling of one or more objects without releasing them into the air...

) with a length of wick secured at either end, usually with screws. Wooden-cored staves often have thin sheet metal wrapped around the ends to prevent charring of the wood from the heat - this will have holes drilled through it to allow the wick to be screwed securely into the core. Metal staves generally have a length of wooden dowel inserted into each end; holes are drilled through the metal to allow the wicks' screws to gain firm purchase on the wooden core. A grip of some sort is usually fashioned in the centre of the staff to provide a comfortable hand-hold - most commonly leather, or a soft, self-adhesive grip of a type designed for hockey sticks or tennis rackets.

Important factors in equipment construction

Building high quality fire performance equipment involves the balancing of a number of factors to achieve performance suited for the specific intended use by the performer. Even if you are planning on buying prefabricated equipment, understanding the following factors and how they interrelate will allow you to best purchase the right implement.

Balance - Balance is how the weight is distributed in the implement. It is critical when making staffs, torches, hula hoops, clubs and swords, as balance will determine the axis around which the implement rotates.
Weight- Making implements heavier will, up to a certain point, allow you to spin them faster. However weight will also make the implement increasingly unwieldy. Also, heavy implements are more likely to lead to repetitive stress disorder, and cause injuries if you make mistakes. Heavier implements make certain types of contact juggling
Contact juggling
Contact juggling is a form of object manipulation that focuses on the movement of objects such as balls in contact with the body. Although often used in conjunction with "toss juggling", it differs in that it involves the rolling of one or more objects without releasing them into the air...

much easier, and certain high speed manipulation more difficult.
Wick size - Generally, the more exposed surface area of wick on the prop, the larger the flame. More wick will increase the fuel the implement will hold and if wick is layered increase burn time. The prop will also be heavier, and more expensive to construct. The more fuel the prop holds the larger the increase in weight after fuelling.
Cost - The fourth factor is cost. Frequently new prop development, and sometimes even building standard designs, require extra materials and tools that are not readily available. Even dedicated home tinkerers find themselves weighing the cost of purchasing versus the cost and time of build at home.

Fuels

Nearly all modern fire dancing apparatus rely on a liquid fuel held in the wick. There are many choices for fuels, each differing in properties. Individuals select a fuel or a blend of fuels based on safety, cost, availability, and the desirability of various characteristics like colour of flame, heat of flame, and solubility. There are also geographic variances in fuels used, based on local availability, pricing and community perception. For example, American firespinners commonly use coleman gas or 50/50 mixes whilst British firespinners almost exclusively use paraffin oil (which the Americans call kerosene or jet fuel). Frequently, particularly in areas not fully industrialized, the fuel available is the residue from productions of more refined fuels. Travelling performers can find themselves spinning highly toxic, smokey, or carcinogenic fuels.

Isoparaffin oil, some known types include Pegasol 3440 special, Shellsol T, Isopar G. MSDS lists them as Naphtha (petroleum), heavy alkylates. Performers seek isoparaffins with low aromatic, benzene and sulfur contents. These can be odourless, burn clean with little smoke and are available in a range of flash points. Little known or used in the US.
White gas
White gas
White gas is a common name for two flammable substances. In its most common modern usage, it is used as a generic name for camp stove and lantern fuel, usually naphtha....

, also known as Coleman
Coleman Company
Coleman Company, Inc., is an American company that specializes in outdoor recreation products. Historically, Coleman is known for camping gear....

fuel, naphtha
Naphtha
Naphtha normally refers to a number of different flammable liquid mixtures of hydrocarbons, i.e., a component of natural gas condensate or a distillation product from petroleum, coal tar or peat boiling in a certain range and containing certain hydrocarbons. It is a broad term covering among the...

, or petroleum ether - This hot, volatile fuel is popular because it is easy to ignite, burns brightly, evaporates cleanly, and does not leave smoke or residues on wicks and bodies. However, it burns hot and quick, limiting the burn time, and potentially increasing the risk of burns. This is the preferred fuel for performers who do indoor shows in the US. Becoming increasingly more difficult to obtain in the US due to its alternate use in Meth-amphetamine production.
Kerosene
Kerosene
Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...

/paraffin
Paraffin
In chemistry, paraffin is a term that can be used synonymously with "alkane", indicating hydrocarbons with the general formula CnH2n+2. Paraffin wax refers to a mixture of alkanes that falls within the 20 ≤ n ≤ 40 range; they are found in the solid state at room temperature and begin to enter the...

oil - This is a popular fuel due to its low cost and long burn times. Kerosene is a generic term that covers a broad range of fuels ranging from gasoline to diesel fuel. It is normally a mixture of hydrocarbons. Almost every maker of kerosene has different purity standards and different flash points. Some home fuel oils are nearly pure paraffins (alkanes and iso-alkanes) whereas others are almost completely benzene and refinery residue.
Lamp oil - Lamp oil is an oily, non-volatile fuel. Typically sporting the highest flash point of all the petrol distillates in liquid form, lamp oils are the most difficult to light and longest burning fuels. Many products sold as lamp oil contain a limited amount of non-alkane petrol distillates (benzene, et al.), and many have colourings and scent additives that have some toxic potential. Even the purest grades of lamp oil burn quite smokily (though less irritating and toxic), and thus make it preferred for outdoor use. The soot from burned lamp oil can be difficult to wash out of clothing.
Alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

fuels are usually ethanol
Ethanol
Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...

, methanol
Methanol
Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, wood alcohol, wood naphtha or wood spirits, is a chemical with the formula CH3OH . It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable liquid with a distinctive odor very similar to, but slightly sweeter than, ethanol...

, or isopropyl
Isopropyl alcohol
Isopropyl alcohol is a common name for a chemical compound with the molecular formula C3H8O. It is a colorless, flammable chemical compound with a strong odor...

. Industrial or lab alcohol is usually ethanol with methanol, acetone
Acetone
Acetone is the organic compound with the formula 2CO, a colorless, mobile, flammable liquid, the simplest example of the ketones.Acetone is miscible with water and serves as an important solvent in its own right, typically as the solvent of choice for cleaning purposes in the laboratory...

or other denaturing agents added. Denatured alcohols can be up to 95% ethanol, or as little as 50%. An MSDS sheet of the mixture will indicate the exact contents.

Note: The flame is blue to orange, depending on methanol content, and fairly dim. However, when mixed with chemicals such as lithium chloride

Lithium chloride

Lithium chloride is a chemical compound with the formula LiCl. The salt is a typical ionic compound, although the small size of the Li+ ion gives rise to properties not seen for other alkali metal chlorides, such as extraordinary solubility in polar solvents and its hygroscopic...

, copper chloride

Copper chloride

Copper forms two stable chlorides:*Copper chloride , CuCl, mineral name nantokite.*Copper chloride , CuCl2, mineral name eriochalcite....

and boric acid

Boric acid

Boric acid, also called hydrogen borate or boracic acid or orthoboric acid or acidum boricum, is a weak acid of boron often used as an antiseptic, insecticide, flame retardant, as a neutron absorber, and as a precursor of other chemical compounds. It exists in the form of colorless crystals or a...

, various colours of flame can be created. Lithium compounds produce pinks, copper compounds produce greens and blues, and boric acid produces green. Other chemicals may produce other colours, and performers often experiment with various choices. Use of chemicals like these may produce some toxic vapours, and have a tendency to destroy wicks. Due to the weak flame, price and toxicity of methanol, it is usually only used for coloured flame production and in mixes.

Biodiesel
Biodiesel
Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids with an alcohol....

- Biodiesel is a fuel produced by refinement or transesterification
Transesterification
In organic chemistry, transesterification is the process of exchanging the organic group R″ of an ester with the organic group R′ of an alcohol. These reactions are often catalyzed by the addition of an acid or base catalyst...

of vegetable oil (used or virgin) using methoxide
Methoxide
Methoxides are organic salts and the simplest alkoxides. Sodium methoxide and potassium hydroxide have widespread use, though other variants such as lithium hydroxide, rubidium methoxide, caesium methoxide, and francium methoxide exist as well.- Methoxide ion :In organic chemistry, the methoxide...

composed of methanol
Methanol
Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, wood alcohol, wood naphtha or wood spirits, is a chemical with the formula CH3OH . It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable liquid with a distinctive odor very similar to, but slightly sweeter than, ethanol...

and lye
Lye
Lye is a corrosive alkaline substance, commonly sodium hydroxide or historically potassium hydroxide . Previously, lye was among the many different alkalis leached from hardwood ashes...

. Both KOH, potassium hydroxide
Potassium hydroxide
Potassium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula KOH, commonly called caustic potash.Along with sodium hydroxide , this colorless solid is a prototypical strong base. It has many industrial and niche applications. Most applications exploit its reactivity toward acids and its corrosive...

and NaOH, sodium hydroxide can be used in the process but only one or the other, never both in the same batch. This produces glycerin and methyl esters, aka Biodiesel
Biodiesel
Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids with an alcohol....

. The fuel is designed for use in diesel vehicles, but is a fairly safe and practical fuel for fire performance. Like kerosene, it is difficult to ignite by itself, and produces a dim, long-lasting flame that may smell a bit like French fries, depending on the source. It is often mixed with white gas to produce an easy-to-ignite, long-burning fuel.

Safety

Metal parts on fire tools have a high heat transfer coefficient and may burn on contact; the wick has a lower coefficient and is less likely to cause burns directly, but can spray or spread fuel. Costumes from non-flammable or flame retardant materials, such as leather

Leather

or treated cotton

Cotton

, are preferred when employing fire; synthetic materials tend to melt when burned, resulting in severe burns to the wearer.

Fire tools require a safety regime to address the risks of setting fire to the user, bystanders, or the surroundings. Typical elements of such a regimen include a sober, rested, and alert spotter who has access to an ABC Dry Chemical

ABC Dry Chemical

ABC or multi-purpose dry chemical is a dry chemical extinguishing agent. It uses a specially fluidized and siliconized monoammonium phosphate powder. ABC dry chemical is usually a mix of monoammonium phosphate and ammonium sulfate, the former being the active one. The mix between the two agents is...

fire extinguisher

Fire extinguisher

A fire extinguisher or extinguisher, flame entinguisher is an active fire protection device used to extinguish or control small fires, often in emergency situations...

for putting out material and fuel fires (water-based extinguishers may spread oil fires), a damp towel or woolen/duvetyne

Duvetyne

Duvetyne is a twill fabric with a velvet-like nap on one side. It may be woven from cotton, wool, or—in rare cases, mainly in the early 20th century—silk...

fire retardant blanket (for extinguishing burning clothes and fire toys), a bucket of water (for the eventuality of out-of-control fires), and plastic wrap

Plastic wrap

Plastic wrap, cling film , cling wrap or food wrap, is a thin plastic film typically used for sealing food items in containers to keep them fresh over a longer period of time...

(for protecting burns that require hospitalisation). Typically, a metal container (located away from the performance area) that can quickly be sealed (so as to be airtight) is used as a fuel dump; with the lid in place, fuel fires may be extinguished.

History

Fire dancing using different techniques is a part of the historic culture of some areas of the world. Ancient Aztec

Aztec

The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...

s performed a fire dance dedicated to Xiuhtecuhtli

Xiuhtecuhtli

In Aztec mythology, Xiuhtecuhtli , was the god of fire, day and heat. He was the lord of volcanoes, the personification of life after death, warmth in cold , light in darkness and food during famine...

, the god of fire. The Aztec fire dance is performed today for tourists in Mexico. In Bali

Bali

Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...

, the Angel Dance and the Fire Dance, regularly performed for tourists, have origins in ancient rituals. Both the Angel Dance and the Fire Dance originated in a trance ritual called the sanghyang, a ritual dance "performed to ward off witches at the time of an epidemic." Also known as the "horse dance" men perform the dance by holding rods representing horses, while leaping around burning coconut husks, and walking through the flames. French Polynesia

French Polynesia

French Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...

, Antigua

Antigua

Antigua , also known as Waladli, is an island in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region, the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua means "ancient" in Spanish and was named by Christopher Columbus after an icon in Seville Cathedral, Santa Maria de la...

, Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

and Saint Lucia

Saint Lucia

Saint Lucia is an island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 620 km2 and has an...

are other locations where fire dances are recreated for tourists. The Siddha Jats of the Thar Desert

Thar Desert

The Thar Desert |Punjab]] province. The Cholistan Desert adjoins the Thar desert spreading into Pakistani Punjab province.-Location and description:...

in India perform traditional fire dances as part of the Spring festival. Fire dancing is performed to music played on drums and the behr. There are variations of the fire dancing; men often perform a dance that involves walking on hot coals, while women perform a dance while balancing flaming tin pots on their heads. Today this ritual is often performed for tourists.

Modern developments in fire performance

During the period from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, fire dancing grew from a relatively obscure and marginalized native tradition, and a talent and skill of the baton twirler or circus artist

Circus skills

Circus skills are a group of pursuits that have been performed as entertainment in circus, sideshow, busking or variety/vaudeville/music hall shows. Most circus skills are still being performed today. Many are also practiced by non-performers as a hobby....

, to a widespread and almost commonplace occurrence at raves

Raves

Raves can refer to:* Rave party* Raves, Vosges, a commune in the Vosges département in France* Raves , a 1980s power pop group from Atlanta, Georgia, United States...

, rock concerts, night clubs, beach parties, camping festivals, cabarets and hotel shows. Many attribute the discipline's rapid growth in popularity to the Burning Man

Burning Man

Burning Man is a week-long annual event held in the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada, in the United States. The event starts on the Monday before the American Labor Day holiday, and ends on the holiday itself. It takes its name from the ritual burning of a large wooden effigy on Saturday evening...

festival, where many thousands were exposed to fire dancing who had never seen or heard of it before. Another powerful force was the rise of internet chat and bulletin board cultures, which allowed aspiring dancers in isolated areas to communicate with the then-limited pool of skilled performers far outside of their geographic confines.

As the number of fire dancers multiplied exponentially, individual performers and troupes began to experiment with new equipment concepts (i.e., beyond the traditional staff, fireknives and poi) and with hybrid performance art concepts. The following is an incomplete list of such show varieties, whose categories are general and tend to overlap.

Traditional fire shows: Traditional shows often incorporate Polynesian costuming and other cultural elements. Many conform to the guidelines or are inspired by the annual World Fireknife Competition and Samoa Festival.
Standard modern shows: These usually include performers in tight and perhaps even risqué costumes with elaborate face paint, performing with poi, staffs, and other standard implements. Such shows often include fire breathing
Fire breathing
Fire breathing is the act of creating a fireball by breathing a fine mist of fuel over an open flame. Proper technique and the correct fuel create the illusion of danger to enhance the novelty of fire breathing, while reducing the risk to health and safety...

techniques as well. Most people think of this type of performance when they think of fire dancing.
Fire theatre: Such shows are theatrical shows which include fire and fire performance as elements of staged dramatic presentations. Often the fire performance is a small element of the larger show. These shows tend to use more elaborate props and costuming and focus less on technical skill.
Fire fetish show: Such shows are recognizable by more overt sexuality in the performance and often extremely risqué costuming, nudity, and implied or actual sexual contact between performers, and are often seen as a fusion between exotic dancing or burlesque
American burlesque
American Burlesque is a genre of variety show. Derived from elements of Victorian burlesque, music hall and minstrel shows, burlesque shows in America became popular in the 1860s and evolved to feature ribald comedy and female striptease...

with fire dancing. Thus, fire fetish refers to a particular style of performance, and not a sexual fetish on the part of the performer, as would pyrophilia
Pyrophilia
Pyrophilia is a relatively uncommon paraphilia in which the patient derives gratification from fire and fire-starting activity. It is distinguished from pyromania by the gratification being of a sexual nature.-Description:...

.
Erotic fire show: Such shows may be seen as simply a normal improvised fire dance but with emphasis on sexually arousing body gyrations, seductive facial expressions, an eroticised musical selection (such as R&B or downtempo
Downtempo
Downtempo is a laid-back electronic music style similar to ambient music, but usually with a beat or groove unlike the beatless forms of Ambient music. The beat is sometimes made from loops that have a hypnotic feeling...

music), and minimal clothing of the performer, thus promoting sexual arousal or desire in addition to the expected visual entertainment for an audience. Unlike a fire fetish show, this performance is generally more low-key, slower in tempo, and may be performed by a solo dancer in front of a small and select audience, often a spouse or romantic partner. This performance is considered to be an active and visually exciting form of ritual foreplay
Foreplay
In human sexual behavior, foreplay is a set of intimate psychological and physically intimate acts between two or more people meant to create desire for sexual activity and sexual arousal. Either or any of the sexual partners may initiate the foreplay, and they may not be the active partner during...

. However this type of show is usually only enticing to a select audience and is generally unpopular by the mainstream community.
Ritual fire show: Such shows are usually a fusion of pagan or occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...

ceremony with fire and fire performance. They focus less on technical skill, and more on the use of the fire dancer to highlight the ritual.
Fire and belly dance: Such shows are a fusion of Middle Eastern belly dancing (raqs sharqi) and combine elements of fire dancing and belly dancing. Often the dancers use palm torches and fire swords made to resemble scimitar
Scimitar
A scimitar is a backsword or sabre with a curved blade, originating in Southwest Asia .The Arabic term saif translates to "sword" in general, but is normally taken to refer to the scimitar type of curved backsword in particular.The curved sword or "scimitar" was widespread throughout the Muslim...

s.
Fire comedy jugglers combine many of the skills of other fire performers but also include juggling, which is rarer in other spinners. The juggler also includes comedy to round out their routines, like lighting their behinds on fire.

Other performance variations continue to emerge as fire dancing becomes more widespread and commonplace.

Cirque Du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil , is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy...

has for the first time incorporated contemporary fire dance techniques in its Zaia
Zaia
Zaia is a Cirque du Soleil stage production based at The Venetian Macao on the Cotai Strip in Macau. The 90-minute show opened in August 2008 and brings together 75 high-calibre artists from around the world. Zaia is Cirque du Soleil's first resident show in Asia and is directed by Neilson...

production in Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...

. Previous Cirque Du Soleil shows 'Alegria' and 'O
O
O is the fifteenth letter and a vowel in the basic modern Latin alphabet.The letter was derived from the Semitic `Ayin , which represented a consonant, probably , the sound represented by the Arabic letter ع called `Ayn. This Semitic letter in its original form seems to have been inspired by a...

' relied on the skills of traditional fire knife
Fire Knife
The fire knife is a traditional Samoan cultural implement that is used in ceremonial dances. It was originally composed of a machete wrapped in towels on both ends with a portion of the blade exposed in the middle. Tribal performers of fire knife dancing dance while twirling the knife and doing...

artists for fire performances. Recognition of contemporary fire dance and modern prop techniques has previously been very limited in the professional circus community. Dan Miethke
Dan Miethke
Dan Miethke is an Australian circus performer and autodidact specialising in fire dance. His international performance career jump-started in 2006 when he was invited to perform at the Burj Al Arab in front of the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates....

http://www.cirquetribune.com/database/show.php?show=Zaia&mode=current is the current fire coach and lead fire artist in Zaia.

External links

Fire dancing on the Open Directory Project.

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