Holiday Weekend…. for Some

While most of us are enjoying our holiday weekend, people in the Louisiana, Mississippi, and southern parts of Texas are spending this time evacuating. This weighs heavy on my mind as my whole family, including my parents live near the coast in Louisiana. They have lived there all their lives and this weekend they have to leaving due to Hurricane Gustav. While I am somewhat relieved since for Katrina and Rita they stayed home and stuck it out, at least this time some of them are leaving. The news channels this morning are saying that the storm is heading right for Louisiana, and is projected to hit my hometown. I want to let my family in Louisiana and the people of the southern states know that our prayers are with you. I pray that everyone is safe and returns to find minimal damage when the storm is past. Please keep the people effected by the storm in your thoughts as you enjoy your holiday weekend.

Thank you,
--Angel

New Photos

A couple of weeks ago I got a mesaage saying some of our fellow fire spinners would be in town, so I sent out a couple of texts and got some folks together for practice. Some of our friends who hadn't seen us perform before came out to watch. We would like to thank them for bringing their family out to check out our skills. It's always nice to have new people come out and let us share the fire arts with them.

Our dear photographer friend David Beasley Jr. came out and took some new photos of us. We would like to thank him for his constant support and for always spreading the word about our troupe. Check out his blog for some awesome new images: www.davidbeasleyjr.blogspot.com

--Angel

A Fire Spinner Q&A Session Part 1

When I started writing the, “You do WHAT???” post, I came up this idea. As fire spinners we get a ton of questions and surprisingly not all come when we first meet people. Some people who have known about it for years still ask questions once and a while. So, below is a Q&A of questions we have collected and of course we had to throw a few pictures in too (I couldn’t resist).

Q: Is it dangerous?
A: Well anything dealing with flammable fuels is dangerous. We do not recommend trying this without a safety always present. It’s also a good idea to have an experienced spinner as a mentor. Most of us started with either glow poi or tennis balls on rope.

Q: Does it hurt to get hit with the poi?
A: A tightly bound piece of fabric spinning rather fast doesn’t feel like being hit by a feather but you will survive. We try to spin with items that are comparable in weight this makes transitioning into the fire poi a little easier. A wick holding fuel (which is a liquid) tend to be heavier then a tennis ball. When spinning at a high rate of speed it tends to leave a mark.

Safety Tip: If you are able to practice the trick without hitting yourself you might be ready to try it on fire.
*** Please use your own judgment and always practice safe fire spinning! ***

Q: How long did it take to learn how to spin?
A: The time it takes to learn really depends on the person’s patience and dedication to learning it. You will find some tricks come really easy and then others seem to take forever to learn. You will really notice this if you spinning with a group of people or decide to learn with someone else. Don’t let this frustrate you or keep you from practicing. Your turn will come! I can almost guarantee you will learn other tricks faster then people you spin with. Repetition is good, never rush thru a trick be thorough about it.

Q: How often do you practice?
A: When we started we faithfully practiced twice a week for several hours and did that for years. Nowadays we don’t practice as often but anytime we have a chance to get together we do. Obviously the more you practice the better you get. If you are luck enough to find a place that has mirrored walls like a dance studio you have the advantages of being able to see your moves. This will be immensely in improving your performance.

Q: What types of things do you guys spin?
A: We have standard poi with several wick types (i.e. cathedral, monkey fist, gorilla fist, moon blades, and cores). We also have staff, double staff, segmented staff, rope dart, whip, fire snakes and fire fingers. There are also a couple of fire-eaters and a fire breather in the troupe.

Q: Where does fire spinning originate?
A: It originated with the Māori people of New Zealand (the word poi means "ball" in Māori). Women and men used it to increase flexibility, strength, and coordination and in particular the dexterity of the wrist.

Q: Is spinning difficult to learn?
A: Just like anything else you have to practice, whether it be piano, drums, guitar or fire spinning. Basic moves can seem difficult at first, master those and you will find the more complex moves easier to grasp. When watching a practiced fire spinners, pay attention to body movements, hand placement and timing. These are keys to becoming a fire performer. Start with one poi and practice spinning in each hand, both directions (spinning away from you and then towards you). Learn your planes and practice your timing. Once you have those mastered you will find poi/fire spinning a bit easier. Then it becomes an object of creativity.

Q: Where is a good place to find more information or training on spinning?
A: http://www.homeofpoi.com/ is a company based out of New Zealand. They have a good selection of training information, equipment, and have a good system for finding other spinners in your area.
If your from the Chicago area Krimzen does private lessons and sells sock poi (practice poi), her website is listed in our links of interest.

Well that is it for the questions for now. If you can think of any more questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments of this post and we will add them to Part 2.

--Angel & Screwy

You do WHAT????

It seems like anytime one of us mentions our fire spinning hobby we get tons of questions. I plan on creating a post soon in the style of Q & A eventually but this one isn’t it. This post is about the biggest question you can ask a fire spinner…”Why fire spinning of all things?” and no we don't just do it cause it dangerous or to be cool. I think we are all old enough that we are beyond that.
This isn’t a question that I can answer for the other members of my troupe because it is different for each of us. I can however tell you how I got started fire spinning and why I continued.

I started spinning roughly about 4 years ago. I am also into photography and that is where it all started. One spring night my husband and I were sitting on the porch drinking coffee, across the street we noticed a couple of people playing with fire. Instantly the photographer in me kicked in and I said I have to shoot that. So we wandered over, introduced ourselves and asked if I could take some shots of them the next night. I took a ton of shots and before the night was done I ended up with poi in my hands and haven’t let it go. Of course I switched to beating myself with tennis balls to learn the different moves and then progressed into fire.

There is something mesmerizing about watching a fire performer but being the performer is a whole different thing. For me it is a somewhat relaxing feeling to spin fire. I know what you’re thinking…this chick is a nutcase but seriously hear me out. It takes a different level of concentration when you spin fire. My family has a pretty crazy schedule like most families today and this is a chance to really clear my head. The sound of the fire blocks all other sound out and allows you to really clear your head and focus on something other then the hectic schedule of life.

There are many benefits I have seen from fire spinning. Being a fire spinner takes plenty of work and practice, which helps to keep the whole family from the zombie effects of television. Being a performer has helped with the anxiety of getting up in front of a ton of people. Plus as a woman it helps to keep the arms tone, so yes ladies no grandma arms in this hobby. I will admit that of all hobbies I have tried in my life, fire spinning is one of the most challenging. Teaching your hands to do the same thing at the same time, or two different things at the same time isn’t
as easy as it sounds.

Wicked Wicks is like a big extended family (my husband and son also fire spin) so spinning has turned into a social event for us. We have other photographer friends, neighbors, co-workers and family come out for practices and performances.

--Angel

As Promised

These are a few pictures we have taken over the years at practices. We usually try and get together twice a week to work on our skills and develop new ones. We hope everyone enjoys the pictures.

More Pictures

We are hoping to have more pictures of our art up sometime before Sunday. We have a large collection of photos taken by Angel, a member of the troupe over the years. The goal is to post images that show off some of the other individual skills in our fire troupe and some of the guest performers. Check back later this week.

Welcome to our blog

Wicked Wicks is a fire troupe based in Central Illinois. The troupe started 4 years ago. There are 5 fire performers and one fire safety. We also have several guest performers. Our fire safety travels with us and assist with our gear and keeping an eye on us so we don't go up in flames (no pun intended).
You can find us performing at charity events, parties, festivals, and local holiday events. If you are looking for a unique act for a party or any occasion please feel free to contact us for pricing (we are willing to do some travel).

Recently a friend of ours, David Beasley Jr. came out and took some beautiful shots of us practicing. Check out his blog to see images.. http://www.davidbeasleyjr.blogspot.com/. We want to say thanks to Dave for coming out, it's always a joy sharing our art with someone.