Thread: Poi/staff/fire and bellydance

I was wearing a poi T shirt in class today and it reminded me to ask you guys about poi and bellydance.

I know some people fuse the 2. Personally I wouldn't I think poi has quite enough non-traditional influence without putting bellydance in there too, and there are plenty of existing BD props without needing poi. But I am curious - through the poi community I only every saw one bellydancer, and neither her poi or her dance were that great, are there any good bellypoisters out there, making a decent job of it?

I am also interested in anyone bringing fire into their performance. Obviously there are the candles, there was a great thread on that at one point, but I wonder how people are pushing this - Anyone doing saiidi with a fire stick? Anyone fire eating, doing good fire-fan choreo (doing something other than simply posing with the fans)?

I can't see myself doing a lot of firedance-bellydance fusion, I love both of them in very different ways, but I would be quite interested to see if anyone was doing anythink like that well, just because I'd like to see it.

Oh and here is one of my favourite poi pictures, that was a great evening!

I do candle tray, fire baton and fire fingers. as I am, in general, a cab girl, only the tray comes out on a regular basis.

BUT. . .

On the rare occasion, such as Halloween, Yule or solstice, I have been known to fuse fire and belly dance. It's kinda fun to let what is perceived as the 'darker' side come out.

But the main thing to remember is that fire has become more nad more regulated. People are even having problems doing Shamadan with lit candles.

{{{{HUGS}}}

Originally Posted by tahiradancer

But the main thing to remember is that fire has become more nad more regulated. People are even having problems doing Shamadan with lit candles.

Well compared to 2 foot fire ropes a shamadan is a picnic. .l;,
I wouldn't perform publically without liability insurance, generally I don't spin fire in public, except on a fairly quiet beach below the tide line, because there is a bit of clever legal stuff goes with that over here.

Danya in Las Vegas does both fire & poi. She is excellent. She is also teaching at the Vegas Intensive although her class is already sold out. Her troupe, Seraphina Fire has performed at Tribal Fest, the Massive Spectacular in Vegas, and at the Intensive's shows.

I believe they have a tribe. Let's see...here it is: Seraphina Fire Tribe

I looked into the fire-eating idea a while back. Forget it! Besides being very dangerous as an art, it's extremely hazardous to your health because of the chemicals, etc.!

Originally Posted by yasalem

I looked into the fire-eating idea a while back. Forget it! Besides being very dangerous as an art, it's extremely hazardous to your health because of the chemicals, etc.!

I already do the fire side, and yes, it is very dangerous, I know a few people who have been very badly hurt. I still do it though, I'm just careful about how i go about it, what fuels I use etc.

I've done a lot of fire/bellydance in the past. It is probably done too much in the SF Bay Area. Fire fingers, fire fans, poi, fire eating and cantact. Oh, and look at my avatar -- that's me belly dancing in a fire belt.

As with any good fusion - best if you are actually very good at both before putting them together. As New Zealand is the home of poi it probably isn't a big surprise that we do have at least one troupe here who do excellent fusion - as in they belly dance (well) while doing (good) poi - as opposed to belly dancing then doing some rather ho-hum poi which I've seen on YouTube. They're called Kiwi Iwi ("iwi" translates roughly to "tribe" in Maori) and as the name suggests their performance tends to be Tribal in feel although they can all also do kick arse oriental.

I've actually gone the other way with fire - I've used my cane skills to do a little fire staff. Again, a lot of fire staff performance is really amateur - so why add it to belly dance? Also, fire is often done with low light - or in the dark - where you wouldn't see any belly dance moves

Originally Posted by kashmir

Also, fire is often done with low light - or in the dark - where you wouldn't see any belly dance moves

This is where choosing your costuming you find things which are colourful. I wear a gold whiting and Davis mesh halter top and a big gold coin belt over pants which have gold threads through them. Many people choose dark colours, which means that they are lost.

{{{HUGS}}}

I often use a lot of burning torches and stuff around me when I am spinning fire, you can create quite a lot of light without toning down the poi, but then I don't really care if the audience sees me all that much. That said the good thing about fire poi as opposed to glow poi is that it makes enough noise to back it up. You can always go for wire wool poi if you really want to make the point.