Forums > Technical Discussion > Staff (and affiliated) purist - am I alone?

Posted: 5th Jun 2001
I think you might be

Educate yourself in the Hazards of Fire Breathing STAY SAFE!

Posted: 5th Jun 2001
I started as a staff pursit, single and double. Now my main focus is poi and other fire toys. I do still play and perform with the staff though [This message has been edited by Ade (edited 06 June 2001).]

Posted: 5th Jun 2001
i would tend to consider myself a fire fan purist. i danced with feather fans for 4 years and fire fans for about a year and a half. its more comfortable and enjoyable than when i play with other things.

AnonymousPLATINUM Member

Posted: 5th Jun 2001
Silly question Flash...everyone knows poi are the highest art I'm trying really hard to be a jack-o-all-trades...I'm currently training on Doubles, Single and Poi. I also juggle a lot. Josh

Posted: 5th Jun 2001
So I prolly shouldn't even post here since some would say I am training to be a jack-ass of all trades but I see no problems with being a purist. Admittedly I would like to see more discussions involving staves, both double and single, as I do single and make poor attempts at double, though I can cross them real well! Fire fans also are lost here...there used to be a few who were magnificent at them. Jump Ropes are still something I don't get to see, and I am stumped for further tricks. *sigh*Even those of us who aren't purists but take on the more "obscure" tools I think suffer a feeling of isolation at times. So even though I am a poier...I am first and foremost a pyro and performer...which at times gets lost in all the btb weaves. ------------------Pele Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir...

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK

Posted: 6th Jun 2001
i still am magnificent at fans (chuckle)

Posted: 6th Jun 2001
Melissa,I'm yet to see fire fans (although I did once see an amazing fan dance done with feathers). Do you have any photos or video that we can have a look at?I sooo want to see what it looks like.Finn

Posted: 6th Jun 2001
i'll see what i can scrounge up. if you're into fan dancing you should check out web pages on sally rand- she's the gall that i base my dance style after. she's is famous for dancing naked to classical music with large ostrich fans at the 1933 world's fair in chicago. quite the act for that time period!

Posted: 6th Jun 2001
I've made some practice staves, and played with them a little bit, but they seem to get far more use by others than myself. Every time I pick them up I get a little more interested in them, but never to the extent I have with poi. What got me most interested in staff was watching Ben perform at the ECSF.In any case, I'm in the middle of construction of a fire staff, so we'll see if a lighted staff does anything for me soon...-p.

Posted: 6th Jun 2001
hmmm... i like all the stuff I've seen on fire ever .... I have seen a couple of performers using fire fans but nothing impressive. I'd love to see someone who knew what they were doing use them. Photos and video now damnit! But when they make these ostrich feather fans they don't actually kill or harm ostrichs do they? Or any other birds? hmmm..not sure if id like knowing the answer...

The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.- B.B.King

Posted: 6th Jun 2001
you don't have to kill an ostrich to get feathers, all birds molt (shed) all their feathers at least once if not more times a year so they can be collected then. however i am sure when they have farmed ostriches for meat and leather they do use the feathers, so probably some (if not most?) are from dead ostriches. things like peacock feathers and guinea hen feathers (the spotted ones) are molted since no one eats peacock. feathers from chickens and turkeys...the usual "craft store" type are likely a by-product of eating chickens.and while we're at it, it's illegal, at least in the united states, canada, and australia, to have feathers from native, wild non-game birds...everything except grouse and ducks (in oz, emu)...so selling said feathers is also illegal. this law is not generally enforced for the occasional blue jay feather you might find, they go after people who shoot eagles and run their cars into flocks of sandpipers. but nobody seems to know this little bit of information so there you go.Pere

Posted: 6th Jun 2001
I'm about to ditch poi completely for meteors.

Posted: 6th Jun 2001
So far I really only work with poi, though I've got a staff I'm not using, and I really want to make myself up a pair of fire-swords and learn some Chinese sword-dance moves to use them with.

Laugh while you can, monkey-boy

Posted: 6th Jun 2001
I think the beauty of staff twirling is in that the flames are always exactly opposite each other at a 'perfect' and unchanging distance. I much prefer staff to poi.Ðraevon

Posted: 7th Jun 2001
Thanks for the tip Melissa. I'll chase her up I'd still love to see a photo/video of you doing fire fans. I'm sure if you e-mail it to Malcolm he'll put it up on the site. Thanks,Finn

Posted: 7th Jun 2001
3 wordsHome Of Poi

- Industrial design knows of no article more useful than the milk crate -

Posted: 8th Jun 2001
6 words actually (and you know it!)Home of Poi and *fire twirling*

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Posted: 8th Jun 2001
f-f: you might be tickled to know that at tonight's fire practice, poi were the minority. There were also staves, batons, fans, meteors, finger wands. Now, most of the folks that used all these other apparatus also do poi, but there were more non-poi sets than poi sets.

Laugh while you can, monkey-boy