Fire Dance School
Dance Troupe
Poi Passion School of Poi and Fire Performance was established in 2008. Kate Wright had worked as a solo performer and then with her long term dance partner Lily Lou. They were approached and recommended to the Out of the Ordinary Festival (OOTO).
Poi Passion students and teachers got together and made a small fire show in two weeks ready to put on at the OOTO event. It was most of the students first time with fire as Poi Passion has fire policies in place to ensure all students approach the use of fire in a safe manner.
As well as running the small circus area the students and teachers put on their show to the OOTO.
The show went down so well the directors of the OOTO event asked Kate to become one of the production mangers and co-ordinate the circus area.
With the help of Poi Passion and the new 2009 dance troupe, working, performing and teaching along side circusseen.org we created a great space with circus skills workshops and shows running throughout the festival. The circus are is also supported by the well known Brighton based clown Zaz (www.zazismypal.com)
The 2009 show took 7 months to put together with rehearsals and learning to work with fire along side learning to work with each other. The troupe including stage managers, equipment and production included 20 people who worked hard together to make this show happen.
2010 sees Kate co-ordinating the circus area with Conscious Cabaret (www.theconsciouscabaret.com), CircusSeen, Circus Brighton (www.circusbrighton.co.uk), Zaz the Clown (www.zazismypal.com) and Ethan the male Pole Dancer (www.ethankith.com).. This year is something special as there are 5 choreographers working on the show:
- Kate has developed and choreographed - Hands of the 100 Gods and Fire Ropes.
- Lily Lou has developed and choreographed - Fire Poi Austin Powers.
- Helena has developed and choreographed - Fire Fans.
- Mark Goddard of Fire Freaks has developed and choreographed - Fire Staff.
- Dave has developed and choreographed - Nun-chuck.
This year there are 17 dancers in the troupe including 4 who are 16 years old. Along with this we also have the children of Poi Passion.
The theme for the event is around the world, there will be a water opening to the show along with the Fire Mandala which is a beautiful sight.
Other arts that we study to help us to develop our moves and bring new ideas to our routines are:
- Yoga
- Tai chi
- Kung Fu
- Varied Dance styles
Equipment we train in for shows
Fire fans and fingers, staff, poi, ropes, hoops, skipping ropes, palms, body burning, wire wool, nun chucks, fire head dresses and fire staging.
Membership/Joining
Membership of the dance troupe is through auditions. All members contribute £20 per month which is used to purchase equipment and resources for the troupe. There is a lending library of equipment as part of this to enable members to practice with the equipment they will be using. There is a level of commitment required to be a member of the troupe as it is a long but rewarding journey. We train in learning how to make the moves flow and to develop our skills to enable us to combine many. There are often smaller shows leading up to the OOTO show which is the culmination of the work that we put in. Much of our equipment is custom made and developed for the needs of our dance rather than shop bought. This enables us to be very creative with the dance and moves that we do. We meet every Thursday to rehearse and troupe members are encouraged to attend class before hand to develop their own Poi skills and enable them to work in the style of Poi Passion.
If you are interested, please Contact us.
Special thanks Poi Passion, Lily Lou, Jane, Helena, Mark, Dave, Ethan, Phill Thornton music, CircusSeen and Brighton, O.O.T.O. (Out of the ordinary) Festival. To all the dance troupe and to St.Lukes Church Hall, production and stage managers, also the crew at Elementry Studios Brighton.
