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Click on the instructor's name for her/his bio. Click on the workshop name for workshop details.
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FRIDAY
| Double staves, inside planes 10:30a–12:00p |
– MCP |
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Short staffs! Inside planes, inversions, horizontal, inside anti-spin and isolation, and other tomfoolery that you can only do with short doubles. ( 1.2m im my maximum length, 1m or less is good if you have short arms, or are short, or just want to make it all easier.)
Bring: Short doubles, 1.1m or less. (4ft or less approx. Less is better.) BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| How to become an advanced poi spinner 10:30a–12:00p |
– Jordan |
| The goal of this class is to teach you how to develop all the skills necessary to transition from an intermediate to an advanced poi spinner and how to recognize what gaps remain in your spinning repertoire. We will explore concepts including concepts like spin and antispin flowers, isolations, linear isolations, 1.5 beat weaves, hyerloops, polyrhythms pendulums, inversions, insides, introversions and hybrids. After the class you will likely not be able to do all the moves we went over but you should know what you need to learn and how to go about learning them. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Martial arts flow with staff 10:30a–12:00p |
– Nick Heyming |
| Intermediate class for those familiar with basic staff moves but wanting to integrate martial arts, more transitions, and dance into their routine. I will illustrate capoeira, brazilian jiu jitsu, kung fu, muay thai, and other elemental methods for both dancing and preparing for dancing (stretches). BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Fire Belly dance 10:30a–12:00p |
– Shetannoir (Sorry, no bio available) |
| Intermediate class for those familiar with basic staff moves but wanting to integrate martial arts, more transitions, and dance into their routine. I will illustrate capoeira, brazilian jiu jitsu, kung fu, muay thai, and other elemental methods for both dancing and preparing for dancing (stretches). BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Exploring polyrhythm 12:00p–1:30p |
– Chris Rovo |
The polyrhythm workshop will cover basic polyrhythm, advanced polyrhythm, polyrhythm flowers and other hybrid polyrhythm
patterns. The Tricks workshop will cover throws, wibbles, contact poi, grabs, one-handed two-handed moves, and loads of other fun tricks that I do. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Crystal stix 12:00p–1:30p |
– Alien Jon |
Crystal Stix are THE best playing modern flower stick. Under the genre of sticks juggling, classic devil sticks and flower sticks are siblings, much like the juggling ball and juggling club. Classic devil sticks (often hourglass shaped without any extra mass and/or tassels at the ends) play very fast, sharp, and "juggling-like". Crystal stix on the other hand, lend themselves to slower more graceful movements that emphasis hand-stick contact and control in between tossing tricks, along with bell catches and manipulations that are lacking in classic devil sticks. Crystal stix are much more akin to contact staff as opposed to juggling, and there are plenty of opportunities to combine the two arts!
In this workshop we will cover the fundamental movements that apply to both devil sticks and crystal stix, along with proper form and technique to maximize your grace and control. From that foundation we will explore more advanced techniques and ideas that are more easily accessible with crystal stix. This will explore some of the parallels stix have with poi and contact staff. Feel free to bring your own favorite pair of sticks, if you'd like to play with something other than the demo crystal stix that I will provide. If time and interest permit, I can also teach the progression from one baton to spinning double crystal stix!
BACK TO SCHEDULE |
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Waistwraps, Tosses and Isolations
12:00p–1:30p |
– Blue Haired Sarah |
Learn how to throw, wind-up and move your arm in a circle with Blue Haired Sarah form Massachusetts. BACK TO SCHEDULE
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| Poi body move application to hybrid flowers 1:30p–3:00p |
– Olive |
Level (Beginners/Intermediate/Advanced): Advanced
Workshop topics include
• Basic driving-style (ways to spin a poi: pendulum, extension, spin, isolation ..) & how to transition them
• Driving-style hybrid theory and combination : Being able to do something totally different with right & left hand, and its application to Nick Woolsey's "circling circles"
• What’s next to play with hybrid flowers BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Beginning Meteor 1:30p–3:00p |
– Andy House |
| The Introductory Meteor workshop is for those students interested in learning the art of swinging two objects in one hand. Ill introduce the fundemental grips and principles that are necessary in order to avoid hitting oneself and untangngle gracefully when necessary. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Advanced Poi Movement – Reverse Turning 1:30p–3:00p |
– Chad Bennett |
What I call a “reverse turn”, is basically turning backwards in the rear direction. This is a movement most people don’t teach/learn and it opens many advanced flowing moves with both butterfly and weave patterns. It will allow the performer several more directions of freedom when spinning but does take a bit of practice to master.
Prerequisites: You should be able to turn comfortably in the forwards direction, and have lockouts and reels down pretty well mastered. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Club swinging 3:00p–4:30p |
– Poki |
Break free from the chains that bind you!
Club swinging bridges the gap between poi and staff -- and will increase you skill in both! You will learn: basic club handling, common poi moves with clubs, odd poi moves with clubs, and some strange looking new club moves. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Staff biomechanics and flow 3:00p–4:30p |
– Sean von Stade |
| We'll explore some of the most fundamental staff movements, how they relate to the limits of our body, and how this understanding can expand your skills. I will explain a few simple techniques that enable us to experiment and learn new moves, and then offer one-on-one instruction as we all apply these techniques to our personal skill-sets. Our session will finish with a brief re-cap and I'll share what inspires me to find my flow with staves. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Things every poi spinner should know 4:30p–6:00p |
– Arashi |
ALL LEVELS WELCOME
Focus is on learning specific training techniques for integrating choreography and spinning. Some time will be spent on integrating dance with spinning , teaching body mechanics relevant to spinning, and working with various postures useful for the weapons spinner. For beginners, intermediate and advanced spinners who are interested in dance, body movement, or martial arts, and want to learn more about how these arts can be integrated into their spinning style. Students will learn exercises intended to increase control and sensitivity, ways that weapons and music can interact, as well as troubleshooting techniques necessary to train themselves in creating new styles. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Beginning / intermediate hoop 4:30p–6:00p |
– Shetannoir |
Hoop Groove Basics
So you spin poi and staff but what about the hoop? Come shake it up with Fire Groove! In this workshop you'll learn beginning and intermediate moves that may include: hooping on the waist, hips, the lift up and drop down, off body hooping and maybe even hooping on the chest and torso. Hooping requires you to move your body in a whole new way than spinning poi & staff. It also brings a sense of lighthearted, playfulness to your practice. This workshop is for both men and women so come hoop it up with the Fire Groove family! We will have extra hoops for you to borrow. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Beginning contact juggling 4:30p–6:00p |
– Greg Maldonado |
| Learn how to use the fewest number of the simplest type of prop: one ball. Combining balancing, rolling and spinning to fluidly move a ball across your body, contact juggling will broaden your idea of what juggling can be while deepening your understanding of your relationship with objects. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Fire Breathing and living to talk about it 6:00p–7:30p |
– Pi |
| Seminar: Proper safety procedures including rinsing, wind direction, materials, and breath control. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Beginning Hoop 6:00p–7:30p |
– Miss Rosie |
| Workshop a): Absolute beginners welcome! Start your hoop practice with Miss Rosie's essential hooping basics. Workshop includes a Q&A on fire hooping, performance, and hoop resources. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
SATURDAY
| 2-3-4 staff basics 10:30a–12:00p |
– Olive |
Multi-STAFF manipulation (doubles, triples, & quad staff)
Level (Beginners/Intermediate/Advanced): Intermediate to Advanced
WS will cover:
• How to handle & transfer cross.
• Triple staff & double-cross manipulation: How to shape 2D/3D geometry with more than 2 staffs
• Application to dual-plane isolation (having two staffs isolated like with doubles and the two others spinning a standard doubles pattern), transfer & crossers BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Advanced meteor 10:30a–12:00p |
- Andy House |
| The Advanced Meteor Workshop is going to cover techniques like throwing, turning, multibeat patterns and more. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Geometric Flow – Double Staff 10:30a–12:00p |
- FireGroove |
| Join Fire Groove as they break down the secrets to spinning shapes. This workshop will focus on the geometric patterns created by isolations and anti-spins with an emphasis on transitions and flow. You'll learn intermediate and advanced moves that include: finger twirls in isolation & anti-spin patterns, working with different points of isolation, many anti-spin variations, pac-man, turns, transitions and choo choos. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Fire Safety equipment 10:30a–12:00p |
- Sage |
This class will go over pertinent information you need to know about working safely with fire and your equipment. Will also discuss different equipment for different types of spinning.
Bring: note pad and pen, whatever spinning equipment you use and any questions you might have. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| 3-D spinning 12:00p–1:30p |
– Arashi |
INTERMEDIATE encouraged, all levels welcome
Tech Poi time! Focus is on fundamentals of technical spinning, specifically how intermediate and advanced spinners can teach themselves using the muscle memory and instinct necessary for technical Poi tricks. Class will focus on as much as possible depending on the skill levels of those present, with specifics covered at the students' discretion. Examples for curricula begin with but are not limited to the following: Isolation theory, dragon's tongue, stalls, 2-D patterning (pendulums, flowers, cascades, fountains, etc.) 3-D patterning (atomics, conicals, obtuse spinning, etc.) inversions, insides, trinities, box spinning, and stuff that Arashi has come across in his travels. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Advanced hooping 12:00p–1:30p |
- Brandon |
Prerequisites: able to hoop in both directions, able to do basic lifts and keep the hoop on your body.
In this workshop you will learn to take your hooping to a new level by incorporating jumps, step throughs, tosses, duck-outs, step-outs and lots of off body hooping. You will learn to incorporate 2-D and 3-D isolation's, stalls, direction changes and using all parts of your body for hooping. We will be spending a lot of time in the vertical plane and with the hoop off our body.
Bring your own hoop or use one of mine. Hoops will also be available for sale during the vending hours. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Beginning contact staff 12:00p–1:30p |
- Silence |
| Learn to manipulate the fire staff without your hands. This class will introduce staff spinners to controlling a staff with parts of the body. Basic body wraps using the wrist, shoulder, neck, and elbow will be covered, followed by combining these moves into contact series. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Poi Combinations & Transitions for Dancers 12:00p–1:30p |
- GlitterGirl |
| Intermediate and beyond poi artists interested in adding some slick dance combinations and transitions, please join us for this workshop. Combinations will include kicks, turns and lots of movement to help artists vary their current skills as well as adding more dance to their style. Artists will also focus on single handed stalls working with body movement to create elegant and expressive patterns. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Master poi class: Elliptical flowers 1:30p–3:00p |
- Zan Moore |
| New stuff that's making the transition from my head to the physical plane: Linear motion; hand paths that imply timing changes; spacial constructs of 3,4,5,6, and 8 nodes; sequences of polygons' diagonal transformations. I can't really describe this stuff until you come to the class. It'll be confusing, but cool. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Advanced fan spinning 1:30p–3:00p |
- Grimm |
| Can be one workshop or two, as many times as needed. Pt. one would entail basic spinning motion and arm movement, touching on posing/forms and basic mentality. Pt. 2 would include aggressive spinning, more intricate arm movements, flowers/antispins, and beatmatching. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Whips with Musashi 1:30p–3:00p |
- Musashi |
Covering Basic to Advanced topics in whip cracking.
Topics include:
Whip control, Target cracking, Double cracks, Multi cracks, Volleys(Horizontal and Vertical). Underhand cracks, BTB Cracks, and Throws. A bit of double whip instruction if time or asked for. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Flow wand 1:30p–3:00p |
- Prisna |
| Prisna of Flowtoys will begin the workshop by sharing the secrets of moving with flow-wand, and progress to techniques of dancing with the wand to those who have perfected the science of levitation. Bring your own wand if you have one. Sample flow-wands will also be available for the workshop. Check out YouTube - "Prisna flowtoys" if you have no idea what a flow-wand is. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Basic Flame Effects 1:30p–3:00p |
– Ian |
Want to add fire to your art? Make your art car more noticeable, or just make drunk people go "Wooo!"? We'll show you how!
Class covers all aspects of making safe, effective, pretty flame effects, including examples. Emphasis on propane and the
accumulator-type effect. Bring a notepad and a pencil.
If you want to explain where I come from, a link to our website would be the most expedient way: www.interpretivearson.com BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Advanced Poi 3:00p–4:30p |
- Yuta |
Big arm circle, Turn, Pirouette, Stall, Clean your POI Rhythm, Idea for exploring poi move, etc..
Bring POI (without tail) and be full of energy to try new moves.
Half of my workshop is body movement and idea of poi my workshop is for intermediate or advanced spinners.
If you are beginner and want to take my workshop, please understand that. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Explorations in Contact Staff 3:00p–4:30p |
- Noel |
| Come learn the latest advances in contact staff! Take the contact staff technique you already know and apply them in resourceful new ways. This class will focus on the use of spirals, wraps and rolls to move the staff to the less explored parts of the body, even the legs. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Double staff dance 3:00p–4:30p |
- Bliss |
| You have been learning how to do all the fun, fancy tricks with double staff and want to learn how to dance with them? This playshop will have you moving with the moves and learning a short choreography! Intermediate to Advanced skill level on Double Staff, Beginner to Advanced Dancers. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Make cannon ball poi 3:00p–6:00p |
- Scorch and Jaz |
For all you fire junkies out there who want bigger fire with less weight! These hand stuffed high temperature hybrid wick poi have more surface area and a longer burn time. Flexible enough to be put out with duvetyn or a wet towel.
($20 materials fee if you wanted to keep the poi) BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Understanding Contact – Paths around the body 4:30p–6:00p |
- MCP |
| Developing a framework for understanding contact and how it relates to your body. A bit of a theory heavy workshop about the many paths around your body that the staff can take, how to manipulate and change the paths, how to take the same path in many ways and how to extend a path in unexpected ways. This is a workshop to challenge and inspire, and hopefully some entirely new movements will be produced. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Poi Choreography 4:30p–6:00p |
- Sage |
| Learning a short intermediate level Poi routine with music. Must know 3 beat weaves! Will focus on rhythm, counts, transitions dancing and having fun! Bring sets of Poi, drinking water, note pads and pens. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Intro to throws (poi) 4:30p–6:00p |
- Mike Icon |
| Join in on the fun and let go... Literally! Learn the basics of throwing and catching your poi with style with Mike Icon's Intro to Throws workshop! BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Partner balance 4:30p–6:00p |
- Shireen |
| Come join us to balance and climb on your friends! All skill levels welcome. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Intermediate fire breathing 6:00p–7:30p |
- Tedward |
| Intermediate Fire breathing- learn many of the moves on 'State of Fire Breathing' you tube video. Participants should bring lamp oil, goggles and other necessary gear. Pre-requisites: full ignition, 1+ second sustain, conspicuous safety. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Kung Fu Sabre 6:00p–7:30p |
- Anna Maltese |
| Kung fu sabre (broadsword) is well suited for fire performance both in the form and the function of it's design. This 1-and-1/2-hour workshop includes a half-hour warm-up of chi kung and stretching in order to cultivate the clarity of mind to study, as well as stance training and basic sabre etiquette before delving into basic moves with the sabre. Students will learn basic moves such as cutting and 'dragon coiling', as well as combinations of moves for performance. This fun and dynamic workshop is designed for performers of all skill levels and backgrounds to enjoy. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| The Poi Unit Circle: exploring poi geometry and proportion 6:00p–7:30p |
– Alien Jon |
In this workshop we will play with relationships. The relationship between different elements of the spinning body (your poi) and elements of the body doing the spinning (you). This can be used to trace interesting geometry, that gives the audience that 'woh how is that happening' feeling. These patterns tend to give the spinner the same feeling and are a great way to push your personal "patting the head vs rubbing the tummy while hopping on one foot" practice to new levels. Ultimately it just feels really cool.
It all starts with isolations, which happen to be a circle with diameter equal to your poi length. Then, it unfolds from there to include extensions, linear extensions/ellipses, linear isolations, trammels, and cateyes. Once we have the different pieces of geometry, we can start putting that geometry together in interesting ways, extrapolated along a grid of unit circles tessellating space (ooohh trippy)!
If words like 'tessellating' sound scary, please don't be intimidated! Emphasis will be placed on physical technique and the feelings involved in learning how to spin the different shapes. We will cover several patterns to practice including Unit Circle Hybrids, and then explore where the groups collective creativity can take things. So bring your creativity and, come make time sculpture with me!
BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Fire Dancing as a Business 6:00p–7:30p |
- FireGroove |
| Yes, you can make a living as a professional fire dancer! Join Fire Groove for a thorough discussion on every aspect of how to take your hobby to a new professional level. In this lecture we will cover business logistics, marketing and promotions, creating a product line, instruction and performance. Bring a notebook, pen and an open mind! BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Beginning fan spinning 6:00p–7:30p |
– Jenai |
Fan spinning is a high energy rapid rotational form of Fan Performance that involves the rotation of fire fans to form symmetrical patterns. Fan Spinning can be integrated into dance forms ranging from ballet, modern dance & ballroom to break dancing and pop
In this workshop you will learn the fundamental movements and hand placements required to "spin" fans. Theatrical elements, basic transitions and stalls will also be covered. This workshop involves intensive cardiovascular routines that will increase upper body strength and tone.
Props: Students must bring a set of Fire Fans, something to drink and a sweat towel.
Skill Level: Various. We can break into groups if necessary.
BACK TO SCHEDULE |
SUNDAY
| Beginning rope dart 10:30a–12:00p |
– Sam |
| Learn how to manipulate this most mysterious of props. Half dance half martial arts, rope dart combines beautiful motions with sudden eye catching surprises. Take the first step to mastering this ancient prop. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Contact Poi (int/adv) 10:30a–12:00p |
- Chris Rovo |
Have you ever dreamt of spinning poi with your mouth?
Are you bored of always holding onto your handles?
Finger loops got you down? Do you by any chance know what wibbling is? If you answered either yes or no to any of those questions you just might want to consider taking this workshop. Counterweighted poi are a requirement for this class.
A limited number of counterweighted sets will be available for use during this workshop. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Intro to Bellydance 10:30a–12:00p |
- Serpentine |
Celebrating the Divine Feminine.
We will explore the foundational moves this art form. We will practice isolations, hip work, shimmies and basic choreography. But most of all we will celebrate our femininity in all of our grace and power. Dummers welcome! BACK TO SCHEDULE |
| Poi Plane Bending 12:00a–1:30p |
– Ian |
| SPINNING WITH NO PLANES!!! Well, not quite. That’s what it looks likes sometimes, but there are patterns in there analogous to the weave and pinwheel that I will be teaching in this workshop. Plane bending looks at what is between the patterns that are easily defined. It is similar to atomics in that if often uses planes that are about 90 degrees relative to each other and many of the same ideas apply. It is different in that the planes do not stay fixed, and gravity is used to help shift the planes. BACK TO SCHEDULE |
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My name is Jordan Campbell. I have been spinning fire for 7 years. I live in Oakland, CA at the Vulcan. I teach spinning with the Spinagogue fire school and perform with the Vulcan Crew.
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Nick has been spinning for two and a half years, after being introduced to the fire arts in Thailand, and doing contact for over a year. He trained in jiu jitsu and muay thai before starting fire staff, and has since branched off into capoeira and elemental staff (as well as some poi and angel knifing).
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Jonathan Everett has been spinning things since childhood, starting with himself, and expanding to socks with tennis balls in them and sticks found in the woods of Maine. Starting with his first pair of devilstix in 1995, he officially entered the world of object manipulation. In 1999, from a foundation built on devilstix and drawing inspiration from T'ai Ji and Aikido, he began spinning glowing objects on strings or in socks at "all night dance parties". After meeting other spinners he learned that objects had been spun in a similar manner for millennia by ancient cultures from around the world. This gave rise to the discovery of fire spinning, and his dedication to the art of contemporary poi began.
From devilstix and poi other object manipulation quickly followed: Sphereplay, staff, meteor, diabolo, and astrojax to name a few. These talents have been melded with a love of music and dance, including liquid, illusional, and funk styles. Jon loves to play and lives for the spark of innovation and creativity, while further honing his skill through diligent practice.
Jon has performed at the Fringe Benefit for the 1st Annual Boulder Fringe Festival, the 1st Annual Boulder Juggling Festival, Ratuva Circus performance and workshops, COSM Fire, the 2007 Burning Man Conclave, and with the ExtraTerrestrial Circus Experiment. He has taught classes around the country in poi, sphereplay, and devilstix at the Double Rainbow Ranch, Boulder Circus Center, 1st Annual Boulder Juggling Festival, Shepherd Valley Waldorf School, SphereCamp East and West, Domba/Mystic Jewell dance Studio, Wildfire (CT), Florida State University, and at Renaissance Festivals country-wide. He also teaches private lessons.
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Known in the hooping community as “Miss Rosie”, Roseanna has been a dancer since childhood, and believes movement is integral to health and a happy life. She discovered hoopdance in 2004 when she saw a hoop performance at a nightclub, however, it wasn’t until January 2007 that she began a dedicated daily hula hoop dance practice with the intention of becoming a teacher. She practiced daily for two months before taking a teacher training and is a testament to the product of daily practice. Miss Rosie is now a hoopdance expert and is the Bay Area’s most sought-after technical instructor for students seeking success through exceptional technical explanation.
In addition to running Hooliehoop, Miss Rosie is a professional hoopdance performer. She has been a featured artist at a variety of San Francisco events ranging from Burning Man’s Decompression 2007 party where she mesmerized the crowd with a fire hoop solo, to corporate events, and she performs regularly at the fabulous indy-circus Bohemian Carnival events. Miss Rosie is an internationally sought after talent who performs at nightclubs, corporate events, festivals, and circuses.
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Matthew Johnson, founder and co-owner of Flamma Aeterna, has been in the fire performance business for more than 5 years. During that time, he has worked with everyone from amateur and professional performers to do-it-yourself poi-makers.
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Pi is a trained actor, guitarist, martial artist, and illusionist with three decades of stage, voice, and screen experience. He began working with fire in 2002, and founded Pyrotation in 2003. He is among those listed in the Guinness Book of World Records with Oceans of Fire II in Black Rock City, Nevada for the largest number of simultaneous fire breathers.
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Olive has been travelling around Europe’s juggling convention for about 7 years, and has consequently developed skills in teaching poi & staff. He has been playing poi for 6 years, double staff for 4 years and was one of the first to investigate multi-staff manipulation. His engineering backgrounds help him out in “doing the math” for object manipulation, and easily breaking down patterns & ways to teach or be innovative. Last year he enjoyed teaching at master-class event UberParis, and further on at Faya festival, Play festival, and the European Juggling Convention. He is a member of “Les Ballapapass”, the juggler’s association running the Belleville’s Street Art & Juggling festival, for which he has performed in cabaret style events. He has also performed & organized fireshows for electronic music festival in France, Portugal as well as in Thailand
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Self taught fire breather with 30+ years experience. Organizer of the Ocean of Fire, world record breaking firebreathing team, and fire breathing consultant for circus universities. Founding member and current webmaster of NAFAA, shin of LAFC, proprietor of Bearclaw Mfg., co-owner of Red Swan Entertainment.
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Bliss is a fire bellydancer with three years teaching experience in dance, and two in fire art. She is a professional fire performer who has previously taught yoga, bellydance hoop and bellydance with fire props at the previous two Fire Drums and at workshops throughout California. Hoop, fans, and double staffs are her preferred fire props.
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Brandon has been making fire toys and performing for years. He was recently nominated for "fire hooper of the year" by Hooping.org magazine. Brandon is the owner and operator of The Spinsterz (www.thespinsterz.com) and travels in the U.S. and abroad teaching, performing and selling his toys. |
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Grimm, a native of Cincinnati OH, began toying with poi spinning in 99', by an accidental swing of a string of beads. After two years of aimless experimentation, he discovered the art of poi in Chaleston SC, and in 2001 was handed a set of fueled chains, never to recover from the addiction. Upon returning to the Midwest and realizing the lack of fire in his region, he began teaching out of sheer loneliness.
In 05' he founded Incendium Arts, (www.incendiumarts.com) and with his newly trained crew of 3 began building and exploring new tools which now include hoop, staff, breathing/eating, transfer work, flow-wand, tuned fire drums and the beloved fans. Today, he continues to teach and inspire others, host Cincinnati gatherings, and leads the conclave for the Ohio regional burn Scorched Nuts.
Shetan Noir has been belly dancing for 5 years and performing with Fire fans and Fire cups for 3 years. She was influence and guided by TimTv and Fire Fabulon.
Musashi |
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Here at Trick Concepts we strive to be your number one choice in fire equipment. We take pride in our unique and innovative designs. Our high quality products are designed, created, and tested by Jaz, a mechanical engineer and custom metal fabricator and Bren, an artist and fire performer. We not only sell our products, we use our products!!!
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Noah Moore has sought out all forms of play since he realized he didn’t have what it took to make it in the nation’s workforce. Drawing upon influences of South American clowns, Chinese Acrobats, Bboys, juggling, stunts, martial arts, and super-human manipulators of all brands; Noah tries to incorporate as many different performance mediums into his practice as possible. Although an eccentric, anti-social, toy geek, he spends his excess energy spreading circus skills to children through playshops and motivational performances.
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Prisna is the left brain of Flowtoys, a Bay-Area company that creates and produces innovative and mostly illuminated instruments for movement-based flow. While she can’t take credit for having invented the concept of a stick-on-a-string, Prisna independently began dancing and expressing herself with the flow-wand, a "gateway" instrument of flow that has brought many people around the world good times
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Isa Isaacs founded the Temple of Poi, a school and community dedicated to empowering artists to gain greater facility with their body movement and increased body awareness through the use of poi and other flow tools. In doing so, she was able to draw upon distinctions from her diverse background and 15 years experience in systems engineering, computer consulting, customer support, courseware development, training, marketing, project implementation and department management. While her career in the computer industry garnered her financial success and various awards for performance excellence, Isa sought to integrate her artistic passion and creative desires with her entrepreneurial spirit which has resulted in building the premier poi school in the world.
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Sam picked up fire spinning in 2002 with poi, and started dart and contact staff at Firedrums in 2006. He has taught several classes on fire spinning as well as performing in Burning Man Conclave and for WEF in Davis.
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Meghan is a well known face around the Scottish and UK juggling scene and her fluid contact staff routines are always well received by jugglers and the public alike. From fast spins to graceful body rolls there's a bit of something for everyone. It is rare to see this uncommon skill executed quite so artistically. As long as she has been spinning, she has been teaching and says that 'it's the nature of the spinning community to share your knowledge with others'. Through extensive experience in teaching at conventions and festivals she has become very skilled at teaching many people in a structured fashion. If you are into staff and staff manipulation, make sure not to miss her workshops!
MCP's Website |
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My name is Jordan Campbell. I have been spinning fire for 7 years. I live in Oakland, CA at the Vulcan. I teach spinning with the Spinagogue fire school and perform with the Vulcan Crew. |
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Arashi has been a student of poi for over a decade. He has been very honored to have been
asked to teach and perform in many countries all around the world. As a teacher his intention is to have an expansive and inspirational teaching style which will give the student several years worth of work in one class. He has studied tribal belly dance, martial arts, yoga and physical therapy, and seeks to integrate all of them in his teachings.
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I've been at it for 10 years, had to teach myself for most of them (there were no videos back then!!!!) and I love to teach my techniques and the the feelings that motivate my movement. I started the company, flowtoys, with my wife prisna and now spend all my time sharing this artform with the world, mostly in the form of quality illuminated equipment.
www.flowtoys.com |
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Mastering things of flame and fire for more than ten years, Sage has traveled the world to inspire, while releasing the burning embers of her spirit through unique dance and performance.
Once upon a time, Sage and the other fire fairies were practicing their spins, dips and twirls when a messenger alighted. She announced that Home of Poi was searching for the fairest spinners in all the world for their Circles of Light 2 video contest. Lured by the promise of more dance toys, her video was sent and Sage soon received the honor of being the winner and collecting the toys.
Sage continually pushes the boundaries of fire, light, spinning and fusion dance performance with innovative tools such as, glow props, veils, fans, flags, Egyptian wings, fire-wings, fire-fans, fire-fingers, fire-crowns, fire-hoops, fire-bowls, palm torches, fire-staffs, fire orb and poi. In an effort to continually expand her repertoire Sage has also studied Hip Hop, West African, Middle Eastern, and Salsa.
A founder of performance art troupe, Sangré Del Sol, Sage has been intrinsic to the overall creative process of the group for the last ten years, applying her skills in directing, producing, choreographing routines, and costume design in all of their shows.
Traveling throughout Asia, Central, South and North America; and the South Pacific, Sage performs, produces and choreographs shows.
She also teaches dance workshops showing spinning and different movement techniques. She is currently working on a new instructional video, soon to be released.
In this video Sage breaks down basic poi moves for simple learning, with an emphasis on techniques, dance, transitions and stretches. She also provides fire and glow poi spinning performances to inspire creativity in others.
If you’d like to know more about Sage and her relationship with fire check out the Home of Poi website (www.homeofpoi.com) for the video, Sage, Behind the Flames. To contact Sage or see videos and photos go to www.sagefire.info or www.sangredelsol.info.
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Yuta the POI NINJA from Japan.
He has been Exploring Poi art and popularizing Poi in Japan, but never been to US.
He believes that poi can make people happy, and can be real dance art.
So he made a website "POI COMMUNITY" for sharing the idea and skills with poi friends.
(Unfortunately its only written Japanese yet, but you can see navigation in english)
He has been sharing poi art with all poi spinner via internet, so you can see his style and idea.
www.poicommunity.com |
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When asked why he spins poi Chris replies, "I
spin cuz it's fun!" Chris Rovo, a native upstate New
Yorker, began spinning in the summer of 03, and
because of the lack of cool things to do in the
northeast, never really stopped. Eventually as Chris
progressed as a spinner he began to post videos online
for others to watch and people began to take notice.
In the beginning of 2007 Chris was asked to teach his
first large workshop and since then, he has enjoyed
traveling up and down the east coast to teach various
workshops and perform at different events. Chris had
an excellent time this past summer attending Burning
Man for the first time. While in the desert Chris
competed in and won the first ever Fire Idol
competition. At the moment Chris is currently honing
his skills while residing in Albany, NY. |
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Noel Yee, a member of fire performance troupe Vulcan Crew, has been involved in object manipulation for the past five years, focusing on poi, staff, contact staff, double staff, contact juggling and most recently hoop and meteor. He values his experience training and collaborating with many talented individuals and groups including MCP from Scotland, Wildfire, Temple of Poi and juggler Michael Glenn from Sphereplay. For the past three years, at the renowned Burning Man event, Noel has performed in the Great Circle with the Fire Conclave.
Noel is a founding member of the Spinagogue that hosts workshops around the bay and the whole country. Additionally he has taught staff/poi classes in the SF Bay Area, SF South Bay, New York City, Philadelphia, Austin, Phoenix, Boston and Los Angeles. In the summers of 2006 and 2007, Noel worked at Camp Winnarainbow teaching children of all ages’ circus skills and performance techniques.
As an instructor devoted to passing along his talents, Noel created and organized the schedule for FireDrums workshops. As well, he volunteered his time to instruct contact staff class for FireDrums in the fall of 2006 and spring of 2007. Currently Noel is a full time high school teacher in downtown SF. Noel has a talent for concise instruction and loves to keeps his students engaged. Keep your eyes out for his contact staff instructional DVD to be released in late January of 2008!
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Zan started performing in South America on tour with his brother Noah, and continues to burn with the same inspired passion as in the beginning. His training has led him far and wide, through a dozen countries and across the disciplines of spinning, dance, juggling, music, yoga, circus, martial arts, and acrobatics. He co-founded the performance group Instruments Of The Now:
www.InstrumentsOfTheNow.com |
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Shireen has pursued her lifelong interest in movement arts through training in yoga, dance, circus arts and aerial dance. She has been dancing with fire since 1999, and is known for her fluid style, innovative movements and mesmerizing performances.
www.flame-buoyant.com |
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Kamala, Lester, Hannah and Jade
Sisters Kamala and Hannah first found fire dance in 2002. After only a year of spinning poi, they left their "9 - 5" jobs and began teaching and performing professionally in Los Angeles. Combining their yoga training with their love of spinning, they founded Indra Yoga & Dance. After two successful years, their brother Lester joined the team and Fire Groove was born. The sibling trio expanded their curriculum to include classes in staff, double staff, contact staff, hoop, fire eating and fans. In addition to teaching their own classes, Fire Groove became known for hosting some of the most successful workshops in the country, featuring the worlds best spinners. Fire performance also played a huge role in the company and has allowed them to perform worldwide for royalty and celebrities. Long-time family friend Jade joined the team in 2006 and helped Fire Groove launch their product line including fire, glow and practice tools. Fire Groove placed 2nd in COL 2006 and soon after, they released two instructional DVD's: Poi Groove Basics and Staff Groove Basics. Today Kamala, Lester, Hannah and Jade are recognized as leaders in the fire arts community for their cutting-edge performance style, excellence in teaching, and overall evolution of the spinning arts.
www.firegroove.com |
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Anna Maltese is a longtime student of Chinese martial arts, studying under Monkey Kung Fu Master Paulie Zink as well as Coach Eric Chen of the National Wushu Training Center. She has performed both fire and wushu with the Beijing Wushu Team in the collaborative Beijing/NWTC theatrical production 'The Jade Pirate.' A fire performer for the past ten years, Anna now directs the fire-and-martial-arts-troupe the Phoenix Projekt (www.phoenixprojekt.net) and teaches kung fu weapons to fire performers in Los Angeles. |
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Michelle Baas began twirling baton at the age of 5. After dedicating 12 years to the sport, traveling all over the United States and receiving many state, regional and national titles, Michelle qualified to be a member of Team USA. In April of 2000 she won two gold medals at the NBTA World Championships held in Birmingham, England. Following her success as a baton twirler she moved to Tucson, AZ where she discovered the art of fire dancing. Now recognized for her unique style of contact juggling, and fire batons, FireGrace has taken the sport of baton twirling to a whole new level. FireGrace lives to teach, perform and inspire! As a new mother she also hopes to use her newly found goddess energy to empower other fire loving mamas and children! |
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Jenai Marinkovic is the President and founder of Los Angeles Fire Effects (LAFX) www.lafx.net a full-service fire arts production firm specializing in the use of fire in large scale theatrical productions. She is also an instructor at Trick Concepts. Jenai has performed throughout the world and has designed and performed in shows to wow crowds upwards of 50,000 strong. She utilizes her extensive experience in theater, high heat engineering and materials sciences to deliver visually stunning brilliant performances mashed with fiercely powerful fire effects.
Her accomplishments include:
• Producer for the Burning Woman Festival in 2003.
• Cirque du Soleil Varekai Premier Party
• Walt Disney Concert Hall
• House of Blues
• Paramount Studios
• Sony Studios
• Joshua Tree Music Festival
• Various Local News Channels
• Producer and Director of the "Nightmare of Monster's and Men" Trilogy.
• She also taught over 100 California State Fire Marshals on fuel based fire effects and fire performance at the State Fire Marshal training camp.
Jenai has been a member of the following organizations:
• National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
• Safety Advisory for Fire & FX in Entertainment committee (SAFFE)
• She also taught over 100 California State Fire Marshals on fuel based fire effects and fire performance at the State Fire Marshal training camp.
• She is an instructor for Trick Concepts |
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Greg Maldonado has been playing with toys professionally for over nine years. His career as a performer has taken him from ballet to burlesque and back again in ten countries and placed him on stage with musicians, models and some of the worlds finest jugglers. He is widely acknowledged as the world's premier instructor of contact juggling both in person, and through his DVD series "Contact Juggling" which are some of the most successful pieces of instructional juggling media in the world. The last four years have seen him bring his talents to bear in the world of fire with fantastic success. Through participation in the Bay Area group Spinagogue, of which he is a founding member, Greg has helped to redefine the standard for spinning instruction while bringing the art to a new audience. He currently resides in Oakland, California where he performs with the Vulcan Crew. |
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Ian comes from the middle of the heart land… Iowa. He has been fire dancing for seven years, ever since it entered his life during his freshman year at Wesleyan University. During his senior year he was named president of the fire performance club Prometheus. College is also where he began taking modern dance seriously. “I have learned a lot about how I can move my body by following spinning movements, and I’ve found new paths of spinning by watching how my body moves.” ~Ian. After graduating he spent the summer studying dance at the American Dance Festival where he was deeply inspired by some of the top dancers in America. Afterward he quickly made up his mind to move to the San Francisco Bay Area, the city that supports some of the best communities of fire dancers and modern dancers anywhere in the world.
In the bay area he was trained for the Presidency of the Temple of Poi, and was part of the Temple of Poi’s fire troupe MN8FX. He briefly worked as Marketing Director at Fire Pixie Entertainment before deciding to set out on his own. He has studied modern dance with Joe Goode, Ben Levy, the Dance Monks, Kira Kirsch (the Axis Syllabus), and has performed with Kim Epifano and Epiphany productions. He has taught fire dance workshops at Fire Drums, Wild Fire (CT), Wesleyan University, Vassar College, New York City, Boston, Richmond, VA, and in Athens, Greece at the European Juggling Convention. He resides at the Vulcan and is deeply involved in the Spinagogue events. He currently performs with many fire performance groups: he is a founding member of Vulcan Crew and LumenAscent; he performs with Fire Pixie Entertainment, and Copper Lantern Fire Theater. He also he choreographs and performs for the band Think13, the performance group Lucid Dream Lounge and the modern dance company In Step Dance Theater. His prop repertoire includes poi, staff, double staffs, double whips, fire eating/fire contact, rope, nunchakus, flow wand, contact juggling, and ball and club juggling and the slinky.
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Sarah, known for her blue(ish) hair, got her first taste of poi in October 2005. Since then, she has organized poi workshops and weekly burns at Hampshire College. Sarah has taught poi to a broad range of skill level in both formal (classes/workshops) and non-formal settings. In addition, Sarah performs fire shows for both private events, and with Troupe Khirkus and F.A.D.E in western Mass.
Although she focuses on poi, Sarah has been known to pick up a hoop or diabolo from time to time, and recently took up double staves.
She also trains in aerial silks. Originally from Colorado and England, Sarah can been found dashing in and around the Boston area for most of the year . She currently attends Hampshire College, where she studies lighting with a side of physics and a splash of french.
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Chad has been participating in the fire arts community since January 2004 when he attended the first west coast fire drums gathering. Since that time he founded both a Salem and Boston University spinning classes as well as WildFire (one of the nation’s largest fire arts training retreats). He has 7 years of dance training (at a very early age) and 12 years of martial arts training. Chad has performed at individual events, small group productions, and large gatherings (ex. 06 Burning Man Conclave). Chad also founded Copperhead Fire equipment to design and sell fire arts gear.
Chad has been featured in the Boston Globe, local college publications, and on local access television. He is based in Boston and working on creating a modern poi training/teaching system, managing WildFire, helping others unlock their creative selves, and looking for a post MBA job.
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Serpentine is a professional belly dancer whose soulful and authentic style has enchanted audiences in San Francisco and around the world. Recently relocated from New York City, Serpentine has already performed at venues such the Shoreline Ampitheater, the Regency Ballroom and 1015 Folsom, as well as at events such as the Sea of Dreams, the Harmony Festival and the Love Parade.
Serpentine’s authenticity combined with her ability to align the dance to suit a variety of audiences and environments, has allowed her continued success on both coasts. Her style ranges from traditional Egyptian cabaret to American Tribal to her own unique style described as theatrical and mesmerizing with circus flair. Having studied with such worldwide recognized teachers as Serena and Yosuri Sharif, Serpentine’s shows always capture the true essence of this feminine art.
www.serpentinebellydance.com
serpentinemoves@yahoo.com
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I have first been infected with the spinning virus more than 5 years ago in Thailand and since then it has never lost its fascination for me. Teaching, spinning and getting to know the different fire communities around the world has been my life since then.
One of my major interests are the harmonious mathematical principles that underlie Spinning Movement. Over the last years my focus has more and more shifted towards Meteors which are IMO so far a too rarely seen prop within the fire community.
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Hello.
My name is Poki.
I like to swing clubs. And spin poi. And isolate my hoop. And play with
my hat. And juggle. And ride my unicycle.
I dream of circles.
Someday, I will be a circus allstar. |
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Mike Icon is a true master of fire and body. He controls both as one with unmatched skill and fluidity. He is a long-standing pillar in the international fire community and his style has made him a legend among those who have yet to witness it.
For the past 5 years Mike has traveled the country as both a performer and a teacher, sharing his passion and love for this fiery artform. From backyard luaus and weddings to concert venues and festvals, countless people have been amazed and inspired by his awesome feats of fire manipulation.
Today, Mike continues to collect knowlege and experience which will allow him to keep pushing the limits of his art and himself. With an eye for aesthetics and a drive for perfection, he strives to take fire far from its tinder box and does so, time and time again.
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Silence is a performer, teacher, and prop maker from Davis, California. He is very active in supporting Sacramento/Davis spinjams, and has performed at many local and regional events, first with SaDa Fuego, and later with the troupe Flux. Silence performed with both troupes at such events as the burning man fire conclave, leading Flux as Shin in 2007. Silence takes part in the instruction of fire performers locally in the Davis/Sacramento area, and also at bay area workshops such as Spinagogue. He spins a variety of props, including unusual and non-standard props such as zip-poi. As a day job, he is a scientist in the biofuels industry.
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Meghan is a well known face around the Scottish and UK juggling scene and her fluid contact staff routines are always well received by jugglers and the public alike. From fast spins to graceful body rolls there's a bit of something for everyone. It is rare to see this uncommon skill executed quite so artistically. As long as she has been spinning, she has been teaching and says that 'it's the nature of the spinning community to share your knowledge with others'. Through extensive experience in teaching at conventions and festivals she has become very skilled at teaching many people in a structured fashion. If you are into staff and staff manipulation, make sure not to miss her workshops!
MCP's Website: mcp.firestaff.net |
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Sarah, known for her blue(ish) hair, got her first taste of poi in October 2005. Since then, she has organized poi workshops and weekly burns at Hampshire College. Sarah has taught poi to a broad range of skill level in both formal (classes/workshops) and non-formal settings. In addition, Sarah performs fire shows for both private events, and with Troupe Khirkus and F.A.D.E in western Mass.
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I've been spinning for more than 8 years now, founded a performance
troupe and a circus, and performed all over the US. I enjoy teaching
the arts as much as I enjoy learning, and am forever a student. I have
yet to meet many fire toys I don't like, but gravitate more towards
poi, staff, swords, meteor, and whip has been a particular fascination
of note in the past few years. I also enjoy teaching because it helps
me focus on the movement and fluidity of spinning, and pass that along
to others.
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