Fire Desire Workshop Weekend... Wow...

Another weekend has come and gone, and what a weekend it was!

The guys from the Fire Desire community in JHB are currently touring South Africa. They’re basically meeting and connecting with performance artists (fire / poi / staff spinners / fire breathers / jugglers and all the other people who have “fire” and “juggle” associated with their art forms and hobbies), from all over the country; with the ultimate goal being that of making connections for a tour next year with one of the guys (Richard) from PlayPoi.

Ok, so this is the general round up of the weekend:

Saturday (Cold – Rain, miserable weather…)
Wayne and I made our way to the DUT for the poi and staff workshop that was being held by the Fire Desire guys. I wanted to participate in three workshops, but wasn’t sure if there would be enough time. I ended up paying for the three, but only ended up doing the staff workshop the next day. Fortunately, that was possible as the guys held another workshop down in Umkomaas.

So anyways, back to Saturday… rain and poi. Rayson had managed to get us a class or space of some sort at the DUT, which was perfect as it rained the entire day and we really needed to be indoors. The workshop itself was outstanding. Jaco taught the class and was assisted by Tertius (whom I later discovered is quite an incredible fire breather). On a side note, fire breathing is terrifying… It is never something that I will ever attempt.

Jaco started the workshop off with an explanation of the various kinds of poi, from fire, to baton to sock, and so on. We then started with the basics of the basics with regard to spinning. His approach is very different to Robyn’s for various reasons; time being the biggest of those reasons. He explained side and wall planes and how to get in to and out of them. He also explained arm movement and moving your body with your arms. It was a really good, informative workshop. My only criticism is that they should have worked out 100% the framework of the class. I also think that Jaco needs to make a clear distinction between intermediate and advanced poi. In his head there is a very clear distinction, and I think that it would make it easier for the “advanced” people to determine whether or not they are actually advanced… or not.

So I had fun at the workshop! I managed the beginners workshop fine, and learned a fair bit in the intermediate one, so I think I did ok :)

The evening, cold as it was, saw us heading to Galleria to watch Captain America! Fun movie :D Thoroughly enjoyed it!

Sunday (Cold – but sunny at least!)

Wayne and I arrived at Mi Casa in Umkomaas about an hour earlier than we should have. We ended up having a coffee and relaxing before the workshops got underway. Wayne and I were the only people starting out with the staff workshop, so we ended up having a semi-private lesson with Bruno. Staff, although trickier than poi, is still a relatively difficult art form. I have a whole new appreciation for Baz spinning fire staff the way that he does.

Anyways after the workshop, Wayne and I headed to the Drum Shack at the Stables market. We ended up not staying very long at all… just long enough for Wayne to have one really serious jam.
And that was the weekend in a nutshell!