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Published: September 16th 2011
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FIRE DANCING! I’d seen it at a Hawaiian luau and on the beaches of Thailand, and really only dreamed that I’d be given an opportunity to learn one day. But here it was! Angela had found a farm/hostel off the beaten paths of Guatemala where they had amazing people from all over the world, home-cooked meals, and a friendly fire dancing troupe that was eager to share! Noa, Angela, and I all met up at Finca Ixabel for New Year’s 2010 and some fire dancing lessons!!
Fire dancing, or spinning, is an ancient tradition from the indigenous Maori tribe of New Zealand. It was used in defense and war tactics to intimidate the opposition. The basic poi are a handled 26” chain with a ball of fire proof Kevlar attached to the end…the Kevlar balls are then soaked in kerosene and lit on fire, giving them about 5 minutes of burn time! The poi are whipped about in an organized chaos, creating a WHOOSH of heat and mesmerizing trails of fire and light!
Finca Ixabel is a working farm that has horses, scarlet macaws, chickens, goats, vegetable gardens, and volunteers to help them run it all. It also has cabins, tree
houses, and dorm rooms that are rented for very cheap! The mountains surrounding the Finca (which means farm in Spanish) are green gumdrops of jungle and the farm has a natural pond for your picturesque swimming enjoyment! It was so beautiful and captivating that a number of the volunteers had been there for YEARS, and it was Pablo, from Argentina, that brought fire dancing to the Finca! He had been working at the finca for seven years, and in that time a large number of locals, full time employees, and other volunteers had learned how to fire dance. Each night, the bar on the finca was packed with talented, down-to-earth people who brought their poi to practice/entertain us! Next to the back entrance was a 55 gallon drum half full of kerosene and the stereo would play your iPod, or any song of your choosing, while you flung fire around your body!
This was Angela’s third tour stop at the Finca (I think she ended up there six times total in nine months!) so she knew a lot of the regulars, and I made many friends fast! AND, with about 50 people staying at the Finca over new Years, turns
out that five different travelers were from Wisconsin!
I wasn’t even there ten minutes and Angela had a set of practice poi in my hand and was teaching me some basic moves. After all those years of glow stick dancing, it felt very natural! From that moment on, the poi were happily glued to my hands and I still haven’t put them down… That night, I picked up fire for the first time and swung them haphazardly while dancing to my favorite Daft Punk song, Around the World! I wasn’t fire dancing, but dancing with the fire poi in my hands! Afterwards, every fire dancer in the bar came up to me to congratulate me on my first spin and welcome me to the wonderful world of fire dancing….ahhh the warm fuzzy feeling that invoked!
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mommy
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YAY, you are blogging again!!
WOW, never saw a bunch of fire dancers at once, i thought it was awesome just with you and angela in our own yard 2 summers ago. and let me tell you people, it's amazing!! They both started me practicing right away and i have tried with fire 2X and it's exhilirating!! maybe some time we can do a mom/daughter show but some of us don't have the time or outside weather to practice EVERY DAY!!! miss your energy, M. oh yeah, love the poor pic of the abused pinata on the ground, HA! and man did you get some air in that happy new year picture!!