Phyzeriummember
38 posts
Location: mt morris, michigan, u.s.


Posted:
I just looked at a few pics on a page that flashfire posted, and man, it depresses me. There's only 3 people in my area that twirl seriously (a few do it to say they are cool, but cant do any good moves) In them pics there has to be at least 10 different people shown twirling. Thats so awesome. Where do alot of you people live at that have these big get togethers? The get togethers i have consist of me and my 2 friends.. frown oh well, i guess ill have to be a loner in my area!

Pain is pleasure.


flash fireBRONZE Member
Sporadically Prodigal
2,758 posts
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia


Posted:
poor Phyzerium! don't worry - I can empathise! I spent 4 years twirling alone and/or with a handful of people I taught.Our weekly fire gatherings reached around 40 people in the warmer months! it was great! It's a bit cold at the moment so fewer people are coming, but the gathering has grown to be so well known that people from up to a couple of hours drive away regularly attend.Our gatherings are great. Lots of people, friendly smiling faces who are willing to help newbies and experienced alike.Lots of non-twirlers come too, just for the social aspect of it. It's a great mid-week activity.It's amazing that the night first started with just 4 of us and has grown to such proportions that people we don't even know have heard of us and our gatherings!yay fire!!

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nomadBRONZE Member
retired
356 posts
Location: Paris, France


Posted:
I'm glad you bring this up Flash Fire because I was going to ask you guys about groups and fire gatherings, since our group in Boston is picking up (about 10 active people now, from 3 at the time of the ESCP).I'm sure there are different types of groups: (correct me if i'm wrong)-informal casual type, who spin for fun, like Calefaction, FlambeVolupte...-troupes that are more professional and into performing.So here are some questions. What do you do exactly at those gatherings? Is it like a hang out and everyone spins casually? Is it showtime? Is it structured (say, some people spin alone, some spin in groups, some work on choregraphies, etc.)?When you have a group, are you open to any newcomer or do you filter people out? On a practical point, do you share costs for fuel/glowsticks or is it everyone brings their own?Nomad

pjmember
277 posts
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, USA


Posted:
Well, Protozoa is responsible for practically the entire fire scene here in Baltimore. Were it not for her teaching, there would probably be only 2-3 fire spinners here instead of 20-30. So, go out and teach all your friends so you have other peeps to spin with!Nomad, you are correct when you say that The Baltimore Calefaction Society exists strictly for fun. A bunch of us have performed for an audience on several occasions, but never for anything other than adoration and free beer. ;-)We have two types of spin jams here. We have regular (every other monday evening) events in a warehouse apartment where we teach newbies, each other, and practice new moves. The other jams are held outside at random times and places when we play with fire. Newbies are always welcome, and the regulars just share the costs. We're beginning to go all out with a complete portable PA system and multiple CD players with a basic mixer. By the end of the summer (after we get back from burning man) we'll probably have a portable 400 watt setup going with some mad DJs spinning for us all night long.Anyways, this stuff doesn't just happen. You need to make it happen. It's work, but the rewards are *well* worth it.-p.

nomadBRONZE Member
retired
356 posts
Location: Paris, France


Posted:
Thanks for the answer pj. I hope people from other cities reply too.Nomad

flash fireBRONZE Member
Sporadically Prodigal
2,758 posts
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia


Posted:
Hey there...Good questions! Our weekly gatherings are very casual and social. On a few occasions I haven't even lit up, much to the dismay of my crew "so Flash, you gonna light those things up?" "nah, I'd rather act like a fool and drink alcohol thanks!"In fact, sometimes the gatherings are so social that it's detrimental to The Wick Effect. We have a habit of leaving things to the last minute when we have a performance looming, so when we meet with the intention to sort something out, we rarely end up doing it. far too many distractions. It's at the point now that we have to schedule rehearsals on other days just so we know we'll get something done and not be distracted!On the practical side, things can get a littel frustrating. I take my little stereo along each week, but the cost of batteries is ridiculous. sometimes lots of people chip in, other times it's left to the core group. Depends on who is there generally. Same for fuel - initally we had a big bucket that we shared with everyone with the expectation that others would contribute, but it gets expensive after a while and people start taking it for granted that fuel will be provided, so we now have our own little fuel containers that we share amongst the 4 of us. Some people just don't understand the concept of "share and share alike" which is a shame because I would much rather it be a communal thing, but it doesn't seem to work out that way. When it gets warmer I think we'll probably end up having some of our friends bring their decks and speakers etc with them - showcase up and coming DJs as well as give some newbies the opportunity to perform to the larger audience the music will draw. We'll just have to find a friendly neighbour of the park that will let us use their power.flash------------------"she dances in a ring of fire and throws off the challenge with a shrug"

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flash fireBRONZE Member
Sporadically Prodigal
2,758 posts
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia


Posted:
bump.

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adamricepoo-bah
1,015 posts
Location: Austin TX USA


Posted:
We have a very strong local scene. It all pretty much traces back to one woman, Sage, who learned it about 4-5 years ago--she formed a troupe, they gave lessons to a few people, and things kind of snowballed from there. A bunch of people picked it up from Sage at the local companion event to Burning Man (Burning Flipside), and they formed a regular practice night, which now draws in a fair number of people with no connection to Flipside (like me).At our weekly practices, we all pretty much fend for ourselves in terms of equipment and fuel (this is just as well, because it seems that everybody's got their own preferences for fuel), but we've all borrowed fuel from each other at some point, and there's often a spare staff and set of poi lying around just in case. Some people contribute a little more--one woman took responsibility for locating a practice venue, one guy bought a big boombox so we'd have music. A friend bought a used video-camera, and we've started taping our sets so we can see how we look (everybody who wants to brings their own tape, so they can take it home and watch it). I shoot some still pictures. It's also a social event for us--after we warm up, there's usually there's only one or two people twirling fire at a time, plus an equal number of bucket-men, so the rest can visit. Sometimes fire-people show up just to visit, not to light up. Sometimes these gatherings are tiny--the smallest I've been to was 3 people--but sometimes there are 20 twirlers, some with friends in tow. Last night there were about ten people who actually lit up, a few others who aren't up to fire yet but were practicing--and some of our regulars were at *another* fire event going on the same time.Flash fire--I have two words for you: rechargeable batteries.

Laugh while you can, monkey-boy


Finnmember
341 posts
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia


Posted:
Hey Flash,I thought we were just going to break into that fuse box on the telephone pole! Energy Australia can afford it! LOL smile

flash fireBRONZE Member
Sporadically Prodigal
2,758 posts
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia


Posted:
adam - rechargables are a good idea, but the initial investment seems a little much.the stereo takes 10 D size batteries!! and I'd need to buy a recharger too so I guess that's a couple of hundred dollars worth of stuff.Yeah, I think we should steal the power from the street light box!!! wink I'm sure they wouldn't mind...

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adamricepoo-bah
1,015 posts
Location: Austin TX USA


Posted:
FF--I did some checking. Amazon.com sells a 2-pack of (2200 mAH--that's pretty weak) D-cell NiMH batteries for $6.88, and a charger for about $22. www.nimhbattery.com sells a single (8000 mAH--that's very potent) D-cell NiMH battery for $14.90, and a charger for about $40 (that's all US$, of course).So you can get away with it for less than AUS$200, and even getting the super-deluxe stuff, you could bring it in for less than US$200. It seems pretty clear that in the long run, they'd pay for themselves.

Laugh while you can, monkey-boy


flash fireBRONZE Member
Sporadically Prodigal
2,758 posts
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia


Posted:
Hey, thanks a bunch adam. Much appreciated! I guess I had kinda written off the idea before I really researched it.not too unreasonable $$ after all. especially considering I get to use them over and over and over and over and over and over (should I stop now? wink )thanks again.

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MogliGOLD Member
member
19 posts
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Australia


Posted:
flash fireYour gatherings in Newtown sound wicked! Might have to come down next Wednesday. I haven't found too many people in the Northern beaches who twirl.cya then------------------Live life, don't just exist.

Live life, don't just exist.


nomadBRONZE Member
retired
356 posts
Location: Paris, France


Posted:
Thanks Flashfire, Adam, and PJ for the input.I was hoping peeps from SF, NYC, and Seattle would contribute too. frownNomad

NYC_not_PKOne Tyred Guy
203 posts
Location: Camaiore, Lu, Italy


Posted:
Don't dis NYC punk! You know exactly what's going on down here. I always feel awkward representin' as I am still a low man on the totem pole but I'll share for the sake of the board.The NYC scene that I'm a part of (it has many facets) is quite huge. I've probably seen 20-30 different faces light up on given nights. It seems that currently everyone is consumed with burning man preparations so the scene is a bit more stressed than usual. Normally we meet up at our site with 50% spinners/50% friends of spinners. Whenever someone feels like it, they light. Normally people will look up and watch but no crowds. People usually golf-clap out of courtesy whenever someone is done regardless of skill.The largest difference that I see is that, since we have so many people, we have cliques within cliques. I don't think that most of the people there could name more than half of the other people. I know that I can't, especially with the friends of friends. It's a very mellow bunch and a general laid back atmosphere.My reflection on the Boston scene with Nomad was that Boston felt like more of a picnic in the park with fire spinning. NYC feels more like a "scene". We've recently tried splitting up on burn nights to parts of the city that are more convenient to us. Our last burn 5 of us more lazy ones just met up in a park a few blocks away rather than treking to the usual site.

PK is a god.. i love the Peeekster.

.:PK:. [poiinthepark founder member]


Educate your self in the Hazards of Fire Breathing smileSTAY SAFE! hug


RolloTCBRONZE Member
member
11 posts
Location: Redmond, WA, USA


Posted:
Well... I'll try to answer a bit for Seattle area...I'm more into the juggling stuff, but as a club (cascade jugglers), we meet every saturday at the seattle center fountain. There are always a few people into poi. Also, because some of us have other stuff on weekends, there are also wednesday night juggling. I know there is a group, Cirque Du Flambe, around the area, who do quite a bit of spining (fire if you couldnt guess by the name). A few people from the juggling club are into that.At festivals, I have spun poi a bit, and there have been passerbys that spin too... I would guess some of these people would be the rave type group.I have also heard there is more of a fire community around too. I'm not sure when/where they meet (anybody else around seattle know smile )


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