Fire Dancing - Modern Developments in Fire Performance

Modern Developments in Fire Performance

• A fire dancer performing for tourists in Antigua in the Caribbean.

• Limbo (dance) performers with a flaming pole in Saint Lucia.

• A San Francisco performance

• A fire hoop performer in New York City

• A firedancer in New York City using juggling poi

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, to a widespread and almost commonplace occurrence at raves, rock concerts, night clubs, beach parties, camping festivals, cabarets and hotel shows. The Burning Man festival has also attributed to the growth and awareness of fire dancing with it's fire-oriented art. 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 increases, more performance art concepts are brought into existence expanding outside of traditional dances. Individual performers and fire troupes use expand the culture of fire performance. 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 face paint, performing with fire spinning tools. Such shows often include fire breathing as well.
• 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 can 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 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.
• 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 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 can be an active and visually exciting form of ritual foreplay. However this type of show is enticing to a select audience.
• Ritual fire show: Such shows are usually a fusion of pagan or occult 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 or represent the specific element of fire.
• 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 scimitars.

• Fire comedy jugglers combine juggling, fire and comedy. This can include lighting parts of their body on fire.

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

• Cirque Du Soleil has for the first time incorporated contemporary fire dance techniques in its Zaia production in Macau. Previous Cirque Du Soleil shows 'Alegria' and 'O' relied on the skills of traditional fire knife 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 is the current fire coach and lead fire artist in Zaia.