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What is fire performance? Well, fire performance has many roots, but the modern art form is like a combination of many dance forms, martial arts, and rhythmic gymnastics. Add almost any simple tool you can think of, and light it on fire.
Fire performance probably started about 1.5 million years ago when humans became the first (and only) creatures on earth to make use of fire. Archaeologists debate on the actual time, but there is evidence of man using fire for at least a half million years. When man mastered fire, and started making it on his own (about 300,000bc), the use of fire for entertainment is almost a certainty.
Censures, torches, staves, bowls and other very simple uses of fire are etched throughout history. Persian history tells us of fire bowls used with early belly dancing.
Fire Breathing is an ancient art that may be the explanation for most fire breathing dragon myths. Certainly the technology for fire breathing has been around since early civilization. It got tangled with fire eating as a circus side show art form as soon as circuses sprouted.
Poi spinning originated in New Zealand, came across with immigrants to the US, got mixed with fire (probably a Taiwanese influence). Then, migrated back through polynesia to New Zealand and continued northward to Asia. Now, the most common fire art, it has practitioners that concentrate on several specific areas of the form.
Hoops, Fans, Whips, Floggers, Swords, and the plentiful variety of new tools had many parents but owe their widespread use to a notable innovator in fire arts: Bearclaw Manufacturing.
Modern fire performances are as varied as the forms of dance. Some performers just head out to a party and throw down in a corner, some are hired to stand on a box. Some performers join together in duets or troupes to multiply thier power of expression and variety of forms. Several performers in our version of a "jam session" is called a renegade performance. Some troupes get very eloborate with scripting, blocking and costumes to make more theatrical pieces. Large art festivals are known to have in excess of 500 performers displaying the cutting edge in fire arts.
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