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fire.qathi

Carved from a solid block of performer, honed through dance, music, theater, athletics, and secret military training, my study and practice of fire implements utilizes all of the performance skills I've been trained for.

I'm active in the fire community as a fire dancer, choreographer, and costume designer. I use poi, staff, finger torches, fans, palm torches, and flaming costumes, as well eat and breath fire. I spent a year with Animated Fusion, then four years with Pyrosutra. I have been the Shin of the Northwest Fire Conclave and Production Lead/Training Director of the Cirque de Flambe and director of The Treasure Chests, a Seattle fire burlesque duo. I've recently relocated to the Bay Area where I am actively participating in the local schwim of things. I can be contacted directly to perform.

First introduced to fire dancing in 1992 while living on Guam, I was intrigued by the power and grace of the medium. I started working with fire on my own in 1999.

Recently, I was asked for an interview, what inspired me to learn how to use fire. I'd been thinking about this quite a bit, and it came down to Tantien, a group from Austin, TX. Earthdance, Washington, 1999.

I'd seen fire spinning back in something like 1989, a friend wrapped socks around the ends of his nunchucks, add gasoline, and we're off! I was a bit distracted with safety- we were at my moms place in the high desert of Eastern Washington, where fire hazard is always very high - in fact that same weekend we watched a wheat field fire reflected off the cloud cover. The next time I saw fire dancing, I lived in Guam, I'd learned one of the hotels had luaus with fire dancers every Friday, I'd go down for the pu-pu and watch yummy Polynesian men and women dance with fire, the women were so graceful and strong, the men fierce! I never chatted with them or anything even remotely close to it I'm far too shy to approach people (I now wonder if those performers ever play at parties and back yards and beaches like we do now (when we can) are they still fire dancers?) I traveled back to the mainland in 95 looking for fire dancers. Those that I'd found were not very approachable; the seedy underbelly of fire dancers was a slightly different scene than my own seedy underbelly ;-). In 98 I'd finally hooked up with a resource and began learning. I'd rarely heard of, or seen fire demonstrated as something beautiful and inspiring, fantastic, freaky, circusy yes, much less about dance, story telling, ritual, produced performances.

Something about the "BELIEVE" t-shirts they all wore at Earthdance 99... my coach came home talking about absolutely nothing but Tantien. He pushed me to believe in speaking to my audience with dance - more than just spinning it, character. It's silly really. But, thank you Tantien =) for making such an impression on me, even if was indirectly.

Since 99, I've been in their audience twice, once, we performed at the same event (Rabbit in the Moon, Seattle, 00). The other, last years Burning Man, I was completely blown away by the El Circo de Fuego/Modagalactica show. Holy crap!