New Year's Eve in Japan-sterdam

We survived our first and most difficult day of performances.. it's all downhill from here.

Yesterday was New Year's Eve.  It started out with a relaxing morning wherein I finished my first drawing and hung it on the wall.  I'm unreasonably proud of it.

After a walk to the Family Mart (our local 7-11 type store) and some apartment yoga, we headed over to the park.  We had 7 shows yesterday - each of the 4 of us had a solo set, and we had three ensemble stage shows to do.  That's a lot of shows, but it's only 4 shows each, and it probably works out to about 45 minutes of stage time apiece.  

Totally do-able.. until you take into account that the stages are each about a 3/4 mile from our dressing room, in different directions.  

I went to all 7 shows yesterday, and did a little extra exploring, and I wouldn't be surprised if I walked 8-10 miles all told.  That, on top of actually performing (and our shows are incredibly high-energy), and I'm pretty beat.  It seems to be a great way to get past the last of the jet lag, however - yesterday pounded us FLAT and so today I slept in until 10:30 am instead of waking up at 3 or 4 am.  I'm so proud.

At Sunset, there was a teaser fireworks show as all the lights in the park came on.  At midnight, Huis ten Bosch put on the biggest, most amazing fireworks display I have ever seen.   Our dressing room is on the third floor of a building that looks out right over the harbor and our view was fantastic.  At several points during the show I couldn't help just shouting and cheering.. so delightful!

Our ensemble fire show is looking good - still a little rough around the edges, but we're getting choreography and transitions worked out and every time we perform it's a little bit better.   

The solo shows all look incredible.  I loved watching everyone get out there and do what they do best.  All our performers have very different styles, and watching the solo shows was really inspiring.  I can't quite figure out to describe the feeling it gives me.. perhaps it's like a cookie.  If the sugar, the chocolate chips and the butter are all delicious and fresh, it's a joy to let the combined flavors mingle on my tongue.  Understanding the quality and distinctiveness of each ingredient makes the whole just that much sweeter.

Our first stage show featured an unexpected exploding fire pot, wherein the pressure inside the little oil lamp built up and exploded the wick up into the air with a dramatic fire ball right when Sequoia and Shaina were bending over it to light their tools.  We blame the unfamiliar Japanese fuel - nothing like this has ever happened in 10 years of using that pot.  (everyone was mostly OK)

Our second stage show started in the rain and finished in the freezing snow.  Thank heavens it wasn't terribly windy.  We only lost about half the audience when the snow / sleet started coming down in earnest.  These people are troopers.

Our third stage show (1:00 am) was delayed for about 5 minutes because an absolutely adorable young Japanese couple commandeered our stage for a super romantic and silly marriage proposal.  That was lovely.  The temperature at that show, at our best guess, was -3 C.   Could have easily been colder.  

Photo by Sequoia

In spite of all the challenges.. yesterday was magical.  The park is illuminated with what must be millions of lights, and the walk through the Art Garden to get to one of our stages is nothing short of astonishing.  The photos just don't do it justice.. the light sort of flows and waves across the ground, and the canal reflects everything around it, and everyone's just walking around with their mouths hanging open.  

Our other stage location, at the Palace, has an enormous lotus-type fire sculpture and fields of torches, and the whole place radiates fire and heat and beauty (and smoke, but who's complaining?).  

Everyone is incredibly nice, helpful, and doing their best to make each day a great experience for everyone else.  It's hard, but it's working.  And it's only going to get easier.

We've got the same number of shows today but won't have to pull such a late night, for which I am grateful.  We're hoping to catch some of the other acts at the park before they wrap up at the end of the week.  And did I mention that it was SOO good to be able to sleep in this morning?  :)

Japan - Arrival

We've arrived!  Fire Pixie is performing for the winter season at Huis ten Bosch theme park in southern Japan.  

The trip out was pretty grueling, almost 24 hours all told to get here.  We are staying in a teensy apartment complex (the apartments are teensy, not the complex) just across the river from the park.  We got in late last night and crashed, then woke up to find the full moon setting over the hills and the sky lightening with a beautiful misty dawn.

Yesterday we got our performance schedule and took a tour of the park, visiting all our different stage locations and moving into our dressing room.   We're going to be performing either 2 or 3 full length shows each day, plus 3-4 "mini-shows" - basically 10-minute solo shows.  The first few days are going to be nuts, as we'll be packing as many shows in as possible for the New Year holiday.  However, our first show each day isn't until about 4:30 pm, which is sort of awesome.. we will have day times to do whatever we please. 

The rest of yesterday was taken up with shopping.  The park is under new management, and the amenities aren't quite what they were last time - our little apartment is pretty bare-bones.  We have no plates, silverware, chop sticks, towels, or cookware for our teensy kitchenette.  There was no food or tea on the first morning, and not even a cup to drink water from. We do have a sink, a microwave and a mini-fridge.  The walls are barren, the lighting is harsh and fluorescent, and the bed is a narrow twin that Darrell and I both have to squeeze into.  (good thing we like to snuggle)  

I will admit, dragging into this sad little place after 24 hours of travel had me pretty disheartened.  I miss my hanging fairy bed and my giant bathtub and my well-appointed kitchen!   I miss my cat.  I miss waking up in my comfortable familiar surroundings with my comfortable familiar routine.  I miss all that way more than I thought I would - way more than I feel I should.  When did I get so set into my ways?

"The powerful odor removal effect will not make you feel uneasy"

But, after shopping today things are getting a little more homey.  Thank heavens for Daiso - the 100-yen store that has EVERYTHING.  Why aren't our dollar stores this awesome???  I got some art supplies, some cozy slippers, a soft area rug and some scented candles and the place is feeling better already.  I'm going to make some crazy art and decorate the heck out of this institutional little cubby.  

Of course, having things like tea, and a mug to drink it from (as well as my very own bottle of sake) doesn't hurt either.  :)

Today is rehearsals all day long, then we begin performances on Monday (NYE).  I'm quite looking forward to it - here's hoping the weather holds.

Orbiting

Just wanted to share a link to this blog post by Andrea Knox in Wellington, NZ.  She's an amazing innovator and performer, and the inventor of the flyweight chains she's performing with in the video linked to this post.

SO beautiful!  And, I got to play on the flyweight chains while visiting Wellington and they're even more fun than they seem!

SubZero Festival with the South Bay Circus Arts Collective

Last Friday night I had the opportunity to perform with the South Bay Circus Arts Collective at the SubZero street festival in downtown San Jose.

What a fantastic night!  We set up the aerial rig right in the middle of the festival and did aerial performances throughout the night as well as ground acts - stilt walkers, jugglers, whip crackers and belly dancers all made an appearance.

It was so much fun to perform for this crowd!  The SubZero festival is an art festival, and there were artists of all types and art-appreciators of all types too.  It was not a crowd that was steeped in Circus arts, so what we were doing was really new to a lot of people and the audiences were so enthusiastic and fun, and so appreciative.

We got a lot of interest in the Circus Collective.  Also, this was my first outdoor tissu performance - the rig is fairly new and while I've had the chance to practice on it, this was the first opportunity I've had to actually perform.  Performing outside sure is different!  The wind blows the tissu around a bit, and the view from the top is especially distracting.. I would climb up, drop into a pose and just smile as I gazed out at the sea of people extending down the street in both directions.  

We got some great video which is STILL rendering (yay for new high-res video cameras, but boo for lack of appropriate processing power).. for now, here are a few stills.. enjoy!

Fire Walking for the Guinness Book of Records in Wellington

The Fire Pixie team has returned safely and successfully from our New Zealand trip.  Such good times.

We spent the second week of our trip in Queenstown and the South Island, having adrenaline rushes and looking at gorgeous scenery, and then headed back to Wellington in time for a world record attempt at Fire Walking. 

The fire was Huge!

Neither of us had ever tried fire walking before - in the San Francisco area it usually comes with a weekend-long seminar and a hefty price tag - and so we jumped at the chance to do it in Wellington for a $20 donation (much of which went to charity).  

We dressed up in our flamey pants and headed out there at around 10:00 am to register. 

There were hundreds of people there all geared up to walk across the coals (though we were the only ones in costume.  Had this event been in San Francisco, *everyone* would have been in costume, I think).  The fire took a couple hours to burn down to manageable coals so we hung around and watched the local performers and basically jumped up and down a lot and got all excited.

When the coals were ready, we headed over (we were first in line, oh yeah). We bared our feet and wiggled our toes in the mud and tried not to be too nervous.

 

We sort of expected to be given some direction.. do we need to step light?  Step down hard?  Should we have wet feet?  Be in a trance?  But no.. the organizers just lined us up and said "go."

The fire was four steps across.  Darrell took it like a superhero:

As for me.. well, I walked calmly for the first two steps and then it got HOT so the last couple steps were more like a little skip and hop and then WHOOSH I plunged my feet into the tub of water they had waiting at the other end.

So yes.  It was hot!  They were real coals.  It was exciting.  And yes, we got burned - Darrell got a bit of a blister on his toe and Andrea, who was walking with us, got a couple blisters on one of her feet.  I seemed to get off easy with just a reddish patch on the bottom of my left arch.  We all headed across the street and put our feet in Wellington Harbor immediately afterwards, which felt amazing.

And it turns out we DID make the Guinness Book of Records - for the most consecutive fire walkers.  We also made the Wellington local paper: We're famous now!

New Zealand Fire & Aerial Show Photos

Some photos and video from our shows here in New Zealand!

Fire Show Photos

This one is my favorite:

...and a (dark-ish) video of my aerial performance!  Enjoy!

Fire Pixie in New Zealand

I'm in New Zealand!  So far it's been awesome.

We had a mostly uneventful flight in spite of some Southwest screwups (which the subsequently fixed with no harm done).  I discovered that Ambien on the plane is just about the best thing EVAR and I'm never flying a long long way without it, ever again.  :) 

We're staying with my friend Josh just outside Wellington.  He's got an awesome crazy industrial warehouse space converted into ManCave(tm) and we've got a little Pixie Lair set up in one corner.  This means I've got a kitchen and unlimited internet access, which is awesome.  He's also got an aerial rig point, 3 Tesla coils of varying sizes, a theremin, a vastly overpowered hand-built electric go-cart, and an incredible vast array of geek paraphernalia.  (Yesterday he spent the afternoon making his own screws)

Josh is Mr. Google New Zealand, and used to be our Fire Safety guy when he lived in the bay area.  Incredibly interesting people keep dropping by.  He's friends with what he assures me is most of the circus community here in Wellington, and now we're friends with them too and planning a day of fun and circus training tomorrow, followed by a fire jam on Tuesday night.  Yay, Circus People!!

Last night Josh had a party at which we performed.  I did my newest tissu piece, which went off without a hitch despite the alarming proximity of a built-in bookcase with very pointy corners and the fact that I was on an unfamiliar and VERY stretchy tissu.  Evidently that's just how they are, down here.  Like, you reach up as high as you can and take your first climb, and you find you are still standing on the ground.  I had to do a few modifications to some of the moves I was doing (on a stretchy tissu you can't just "grab higher" on the pole because as soon as you let go it rockets upwards and you reach but then end up grabbing *lower*) but with a little practice, it worked out just fine. 

Andrea (the tissu artist whose tissu I was using) did a performance next which was gorgeous, and then we did our fire show and it was really well-received.  The rest of the night was meeting all Josh's fascinating and highly geeky friends.  It was a perfect mix of wacky circus people and geeky tech people, which really works better than you'd think.  :)

We've got plans to hang around Wellington this week and then visit the south island next week, where we will take plane rides and go canyoning and possibly bungee jump and ride the luge and have all kinds of lovely adventures. 

YAY new Zealand!

Free Standing Aerial Rig - First time assembly!

A week or so ago my aerial partner Miriam ordered and received a brand-new free standing aerial rig from Trapezerigging.com.  We found a day that wasn't too rainy and headed over to her place to unpack it and assemble it.  SO MUCH FUN

It's like a giant swing set!  A *giant* swing set!

Which piece goes where?

Set up at the 14' height

It's up!  Installing the tissu

Woo Hoo!  It's working!

I had to try it too

The web site claims that 2 people can assemble this rig in about 10 minutes.  There were 3 of us, and it took us about an hour, but that includes unpacking time and head-scratching time and a space that was juuuuuust barely big enough for the rig.  The base requires 24x28 feet of space, which is just about the exact size of the yard we were in, so there was a little bit of wiggling and scrunching to get it to fit right.

It was incredibly easy to put together.  I think having 3 people is probably the way to go, but could have done it with 2 in a pinch. 

Its height is 18.5 feet maximum, and it can be assembled at 14 feet by leaving out one of the pole sections.  The rig is incredibly well designed, and will be really easy to take apart for transport.  It will fit in a midsized car (if it's just the rig and the driver), at least, we *think* it will.  Haven't tested that yet.

So .. bring on the outdoor summertime aerial shows!  We are equipped!

Las Amigas del Fuego - New Tissu Routine

I love doing aerial tissu.  I love it when I've been doing regularly for a good long while and I'm feeling strong, and most especially I love it when I'm working on a new choreographed piece.  Regular practice is fun, but working towards a goal is just SO much more satisfying.

Right now I am choreographing a piece I'll be performing in New Zealand (!!!) for our upcoming trip in April.  It's about a 4 minute piece, choreographed to Las Amigas del Fuego, which is an original song by my hubby Darrell.  I sing harmonies on the song too, so this piece just feels creative all the way down to the roots.

It's got a bit of a flamenco "feel" to it, so I'm learning a few flamenco "florellos" and planning on working up a flamenco-inspired costume. Maybe I need a rose in my teeth.  Hmmm.

I'm at the stage where I've got all the moves I want to do, and I'm hammering out timing and synching with the music, and adding in flair and dance-y stuff.. and this morning, for the very first time, I completed the entire routine (including ending drop) in time with the music!  This is SO exciting, especially considering how a week or two ago I couldn't even get halfway through the choreography without gasping and losing grip and falling out of the tissu.  

Don't get me wrong.. I've got some good stamina, but learning a new routine is taxing on so many levels that one often forgets to do things like "breathe".   And I'm incorporating two rather scary moves, a dive and a drop - and that fear of letting go never seems to wane completely.

Still: I made it through!!  YAY!  Now it's time for tweaks and polishing and costume design.. and soon, performance!

Cirque du Soleil and inspiration

Yesterday being Darrell's birthday, I took him out to (an unfortunately mediocre) dinner and then to see Totem, the Cirque du Soleil show that's playing in San Jose.

There was nothing mediocre about Totem.

OH I loved it.  I had a smile of absolute delight on my face from the opening act all the way through to the very end.  The costumes!  The music!  The impossible feats performed in front of my very eyes!!!  Oh, I loved it.  Yes, I did.

This morning, instead of going to the gym, I stayed in and worked on my aerial tissu.  I started choreographing a new piece to Las Amigas del Fuego (which is a kickass original song by Darrell).  We've been kicking around "music video" ideas for this song for ages, and I've also been wanting to choreograph to it, and it seems that everything is starting to come together nicely.

I worked for an hour and 45 minutes and I have maybe the first 3rd of it sketched out, with ideas about the middle and the end.  I'm doing a dive!   I've always been afraid of dives.  I also feel like the choreography is already really unique.  I'm at the point in tissu where I am knowledgeable enough that I can come up with new transitions and stylings for moves, and have even made up a couple new moves over the last few months.  (New to me, probably someone somewhere has done them before, but I still think that counts)

Next week my aerial partner is getting a freestanding rig (!!!!!!!!!) and so here's hoping that she wants to take it to lots of fun places and rig a tissu on it and play with me this summer!

 

Purim Fire Dance Show

Last night we did a fire show for a local Synagogue to celebrate Purim.  Since I'm not Jewish, I didn't know much about this holiday.  I'd heard it was a rather fun one.  Last year one of my Jewish friends brought me cookies, called Hamantaschen which was OK with me (cookies are always ok with me) and I'd heard that this is a drinking holiday. 

I didn't realize it was also a costume holiday!  We got to the venue and more than half the audience were dressed in silly costumes.  Costumes, drinking and cookie delivery?  This is my kinda holiday.

We did the show in our Renaissance costumes (that costume always makes me feel so twirly) and we fit right in.  There were dozens and dozens of Princesses (of all ages), people dressed as food (notably a whole family dressed as pizza slices and a VERY cute little 2 year-old cupcake), people dressed as Esther and King David to celebrate the meaning behind the holiday, and a fair smattering of ninja, jedi, hippies, and the like.  There were also a lot of people dressed as Italians - an Italian bike racer, an Italian dancer, Italian gangsters, and Italian Renaissance costumes.  Also there were two kids dressed as soldiers from the Israeli Special Forces. 

I love these little slices of life and culture I get to witness as a performer.  :)  The San Francisco Bay Area is awesome.  Happy Purim everyone!

Mermaid Oracle at Pantheacon 2012

This past weekend I got to play the Mermaid Oracle at the Pagan Alliance's "Vampirates" party at Pantheacon in San Jose.

This was my first time visiting Pantheacon and I had a really wonderful time.  The Pagan Alliance folks were wonderful and hospitable - and they had the best party in the whole convention!

I was set up in the gigantic bath tub in my swimming tail, which had been decorated with all kinds of mermaid-y stuff and looked fabulous.  I sat in the tub, splashing people, telling fortunes, blowing bubbles and being wooed by pirates.   It was a fabulous night!  

I have to admit, I was a little nervous about the fortune telling / oracle aspect of this gig.  I hadn't ever done fortune telling before.  Nobody expected "serious" fortune telling or true oracular ability, of course, so I just decided to keep it silly and fun.  After all, a mermaid who's allowed herself to be captured and confined to a bathtub in San Jose can't be *that* all-knowing, right?


But the very first "client" I spoke to had a semi-serious question.. will my son be happy?  I looked back at her and opened my mouth.. and the words that came out left tears of emotion rolling down her face.  (I made her cry?? Wow.. that was unexpected..)  But they were tears of gratitude.. it seems she had simply needed someone to listen to her and believe in her, and.... well, if a magical creature such as a mermaid believes in you, then you're gonna be okay, right?

I answered so many questions throughout the night - serious ones, silly ones, irreverent ones and flirty ones, and I actually felt like a few of the people got some real answers.  Is perhaps the value of an oracle simply a sounding board?  A magical-seeming echo of our own thoughts, stirred around in the sea and repeated back to us with a more confident tone? 

Or, is it simply that when we open up and ask for advice from a stranger, we get a new perspective on our problems?

Whatever the reason, this was a great party, a unique experience and a delightful crowd.  I hope I get to do it again next year!

Light Shows with Flow Toys

It's wintertime, and the weather is iffy, so we find ourselves doing a lot of light shows this time of year.  Light shows can be done indoors, so, no worrying about fire permits or ventilation, and they're fun to watch and pretty mesmerizing. 

We use a variety of light toys for spinning, but our favorites are from Flow Toys.  Their lights are recognized as the best by just about every light dancer I know, and are used by most of the troupes and larger circus groups in the Bay Area. 

They've got loads of different configurations and LOTS of pretty colors.  These toys were designed from the ground up by professional light dancers, so they really meet the demands that performers put on them - they're reliable and sturdy and bright and really flexible. 

My heart belongs to fire, but if I am spinning lights, I love me some Flow Toys.

Fire Pixie in New Zealand April 11-30, 2012

Fire Pixie is traveling to New Zealand and we are ALL kinds of excited.  It's a trip for both business and pleasure.. we will be visiting some friends, making connections for clothing sales, and doing as much fire dancing as we can handle.

We will be based in Wellington but traveling all around the country.  We've got one performance lined up at a fantastic private party, and would love to bring our firey firey fire show to more Kiwis.  So let's do this!

Fire Pixie is a professionally run fire dance troupe which performs at a wide variety of venues in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. We present different styles of fire performance, from tribal, hand-drum driven shows to beautiful flamenco-style dance to polynesian luau fire shows - whatever fits the mood of your party.

We are extremely safety-conscious and insured for up to $2M.  Our show has been featured all over the globe - we have wowed audiences in Japan, Bermuda, Brazil, Hawaii, Thailand and Jamaica as well as all over the USA.  We're high-end and professional, but giving very low rates for shows in New Zealand - we really want to perform for you!

If you'd like to book us for a show, or are curious about whether we'd be right for your party please fill out our rate request form or contact us at 510.367.4517.

Chinese New Year Aerial Circus Show

Fire Pixie Entertainment Presents

 Dragonflight

A Multi-Cultural Circus Show for Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays.  In China, it is known as "Spring Festival," marking the end of the winter season. 2012 ushers in the Year of the Dragon.

Our show begins with traditional storytelling, steeped in the history and culture of China and the mythical animals of the years - dragons, rabbits, monkeys and many more take turns influencing the year's events. 

Next, our performers will present an aerial dance circus performance, "Dragonflight" - a story of fantasy and dragons that will astonish the audience and captivate their imaginations as they watch the dancers climb and soar through the air.

We finish the show by answering questions and educating the audience about the circus tradition and the Chinese New Year tradition. 

Requirements & Logistics

• 30-40 minutes from start to finish
• $500 for one performance, $700 for 2 performances in the same day
• Perfect for elementary or middle school aged kids -We tailor the show to the age group
• Sound system and $2MM performer's insurance is included

Rigging Requirements

• 15-25 foot ceilings required
• We can rig from an eye bolt or an exposed support beam
• Site inspection for rigging is included

Contact Us if you want more information or if you would like to check availability and book! 




Erin St. Blaine
510.367.4517
info@firepixie.com
www.firepixie.com

New Year's Eve Aerial & Fire & Belly Dancing

For NYE 2011, Fire Pixie was booked at the India Community Center in Milpitas to put on a New Year's Eve circus show.  We rocked the house!

Opening act was a belly dance solo by Miriam.  I absolutely love her fluttery fabric fans..

Our second act was an aerial tissu duet featuring Miriam and me.  I was all kinds of excited about this. I've never done aerial for such a huge venue before and I was nervous as all get out.
We put together a new duet for this show.. the storyline was of a dragonrider and her dragon meeting and flying together.  It was choreographed to original music by Darrell, my hubby and partner in crime.  There's something so exciting about working together with a musician.. the music and the dance can grow organically together so that they fit together like legos.  If the dance calls for a pause or a crash, the music can change to support it, and if the music calls for a legato section we can add that into the dance.  It's a fluid kind of creation and frankly, kind of a rush.  (More about making the costumes over at Fire Pixie Fashion)

Since it was a new piece, we'd had a "preview party" at my house the week before the performance, so we could perform it in front of an audience before the big show on NYE.  This upped my confidence level enormously.  And it really worked!  I had the jitters until I heard the first drumbeats of the music start, and then found myself transported to that magical timeless flow state, flying through the routine effortlessly, spinning and dancing, climbing and dropping, connecting with the audience.

Moments like that are magical.  This is why I choose this kind of life. 

See the whole photo set here 

After the show, the adrenaline rush took us right through the last set of the night, the fire show.  I'll be honest.. we've done so many fire shows of this type that we don't even bother taking pictures anymore.. but we pulled it off with our usual aplomb and then made it back to Miriam's in time for a new year's champagne toast.

Happy New Year!  I want to hear about your NYE adventures too!

New Year's Eve Body Paint

I got so excited about the aerial dance we did on NYE that I completely forgot to post about the body painting I did that night.  This was for a schwanky party down in the South Bay at a gorgeous mansion.  They'd turned one of their many rooms into a dance club a-la Studio 54, and the lights around the grounds outside were tremendously beautiful.  My contribution was painting Lady Liberty, who was positioned in the center of a round table right in the entrance hall.  She was delightful!