Japan - Day 4

Today was a lighter show day - only 5 shows instead of 7.   We are very much appreciating the break, and took advantage of the shorter work day to have an epic shopping trip (hot plate!  yes!  no more microwaved fish!) and to go see a delightful magic show (fire illusionist FTW).  Also I got a wonderful massage, wherein they shiatsu-ed the tightness away and then encased my legs in the fabulous Leg Massage Machine, which squeezed and squeezed and squeezed until I was in absolute heaven.  These cobblestone streets do take their toll on the ol' feet.

Tomorrow we will (hopefully) get our loaner bikes, which will give us a bit more freedom to explore.  We've got a heavier show schedule for the weekend but then it lightens up again for the weekdays, and we'll also start getting to take days off fairly soon.  I think we're all a bit wiped out and in need of a rest, but our show keeps getting better and better.

It's an interesting phenomenon.. as our show gets tighter, we seem to get more dissatisfied with it.  New interactions emerge, we get more laughs and more applause, and we really start to notice all the bits that don't work as well as they could.  We'll absolutely ROCK a piece of one show, and if it's back to "normal" at the next show we feel like failures.

We're also feeling the effects of oh-so-many shows and starting to get a lot of singed hair and mini burns, especially on our hands.  When the weather is really cold outside, that also takes its toll.  I'm impressed with everyone's resilience and grateful that our bodies work so very well -- in spite of minor things like burns and illness and below-freezing weather we are still jumping around, doing acrobatics and playing with fire.  My troupe members RULE!

This first week is the most demanding of the whole run.  Soon we'll settle into a comfortable routine and have a little time to relax, enjoy, and explore.  For now it's all about getting through the weekend.. and I have absolute faith that we're gonna rock it.

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!