EMBERS TO ASHES

Happy August!

Welcome back to Embers To Ashes. This month’s newsletter is lighter than most so it’ll be an easy read, nevertheless there were a lot of exciting things happening. Without further ado, let’s jump right in!

Life in Fire Knife

Fire Knife competitions have been popping up like crazy! As Siva Afi has become more well known and respected around the world, more and more places are hosting competitions to bring in the best performers and build awareness. Here are some of the current Siva Afi competitions out in the world:

• Master of the Flames - Lehi, Utah

• Toa Afi - Orlando, Florida

• Toa Ole Afi - Brisbane, Australia

• Po Afi Kaua’i - Kaua’i, Hawai’i

• Siva Afi Tahiti - Tahiti, French Polynesia

Although I am not competing anytime this year, I am really excited to be headed to Toa Afi this November in Florida. It’ll be my first competition I’ve seen and will be a great way for me to connect with other Fire Knife dancers, understand what it takes to be competition-ready, and to learn from the best of the best. Stay tuned for that later this year!

July Progress

Back in June 2023, I started a 500-day challenge where I would practice every single day for 500 days straight; currently I’m on day 421/500.

Summer Shows & Bookings

Summer has been full swing with shows! In my last newsletter, I shared how I had my first paid, non-Polynesian fire show for a bachelorette party and how I’ve begun doing more independent shows for my Fire dancing business. Well, up to date I’ve done 6 out of 12 booked shows!!! This may not seem like a lot, but to me it means the world. I only really started building my own Fire Dancing business since August of last year, and I only had my first paid independent show back in June. From small backyard gatherings to kids’ summer camps, block parties, and even a cable park, it’s been such a growing experience for me and I’ve made many mistakes. Here are some things I’ve learned from them:

1.  You’re not as bad as you think you are. As someone who has been on stage since 4 years old, I have high expectations for myself when it comes to performing. I feel I need to give the utmost excellent performance and give the audience their money’s worth; as a result, I’m extremely hard on myself. If I drop the fire knife or stutter on some words, I really put myself down in my head and I get really down. What I need to remind myself is that the audience’s perspective is different from my own. After my first show I thought I did so horrible and that the audience would make fun of me. I kid you not they asked me to stay and hang out afterwards and even tipped me $100! Sure I could have improved things here and there, but I literally DANCE WITH FIRE. Just holding a Fire Knife is amazing to the crowd and I need to give myself more grace even when I mess up. Sounds so easy and obvious, but not always in practice in the moment. The audience is on my side and is rooting for me to succeed.

2. Be as organized and portable as possible. Being completely honest, my first show was such a disorganized mess. I remember that at one point during the show I had LOST my lighter because it was getting dark and I couldn’t see so I was scrambling around until I realized that I could light my Fire Knife from the tiki torches the audience members had in front of them. Had it not been for those tiki torches, I wouldn’t have been able to light up without asking for a lighter (how embarrassing is that, right?!). This made me realize I need to be better at organizing my equipment and make sure said equipment is portable and easy to bring around. With that I immediate bought a new Fire Knife bag; check out my unboxing video to see what I got:

3. Get a tip jar. At one of my first shows at this really cool cable park, I had maybe 5 people come up to me and say I need to have a tip jar open in case people want to tip. Now, I’m not one to expect anyone to give tips (nor do I encourage it) but I received several tips from people and definitely don’t oppose accepting free money. Following that gig I immediately ordered a foldable stand to collect tips along with my information that leads to digital tips too. Doesn’t hurt to have at all 😎.

There are so many other things I’ve learned from these shows that are micro in size yet add up to make the biggest difference. Fire Knife dancing is so much more than just the fire; I want to inspire, educate, and story-tell. So as I continue to do these gigs and performances, my goal is to learn from all the mistakes I make and create an experience that remains with the viewer for a very long time. I’m so happy and excited for you all to be on that journey with me. Stay tuned for more.

Tricking & Fire Knife

If you’ve been keeping up with my YouTube videos, you may have noticed I’ve been focusing a lot on tricking and flips. Ultimately my goal is to add flips and gymnastics to my Fire Knife dancing to break into new territory and develop my own exclusive type of moves. Anyways, it’s been a grind this past month because recently I’ve been working on two flips: B-twists and Corks.

I was training both of them side-by-side for the past couple of months— and I actually got them to be pretty good! However I’ve been losing them and it’s been really frustrating. I think it’s because the motion for each is different, and they’re conflicting against one another. Let me explain. B-twists is an off-axis flip where you rotate your body 360 degrees forward on a horizontal plane. Corks, on the other hand, are on a more vertical plane and is basically a 360 degree backflip off of one leg. So due to the change of planes and direction of my rotation, I’ve been mixing them up between the two flips. I REALLY want to get these and eventually do them with fire; it just so happens I need to learn these flips 4 times: once on a spring floor, once with my fire knife(s), once on concrete, and then once with actual fire. It’ll likely be a long time before I get these moves, so I’m trying my best to remain consistent and get them once and for all!

Other than shows and tricking, I’ve really just been trying to remain consistent with training so that I reach my 500 day goal and eventually 1000 days. Slow and steady progress day by day!

Move of the Month

Every month I post a move to educate people on the culture and vocabulary of Siva Afi.

This month’s move:

VILI KUA MA LUGA

This move is an extension and variation of Vili Kua, or around-the-world. The only difference is that you bring the Fire Knife up and over your back. Make sure your arms are close to your ears and elbows bent.

That’s all I have for you this month, folks. Excited for my upcoming shows and training. If you have any feedback or suggestions you’d like me to incorporate into these newsletters, feel free to reply to this email.

See you next month, and like always, Be What Remains.

— Embers