EMBERS TO ASHES

Howdy!

Welcome to the second month of Embers To Ashes! Glad to have you back, we’ve got a lot of fun stuff to cover. Let’s dive right in.

Life in Fire Knife

Last week we talked about the origin of the Fire Knife dance and the traditional weapon used for battle. This week I think it would be a fun continuation to talk about the modern-day knives used in performances.

The Knife

The knife, which consists of the handle in the middle, the flat (“butt”) end, and the hook (“head”) end, is a metal rod. The head of the knife has a hook that imitates the Nifo Oti, the original war club used in battle, with the ability to hook onto another knife, creating an elongated knife that you can spin as a single unit. The knife can really be made out of any type of metal, aluminum is primarily used to maintain a lighter weight for optimal handling. Competition regulations require knives to be a minimum of 36 inches long, from the tip of the hook to the flat bottom, with most ranging from 36-40 inches (I personally prefer 37 inches). Below is what a naked knife looks like.

The Flame

There are two primary materials for Fire Knives that are secured around the ends of the knife and hold the flames: Kevlar and boards.

Kevlar is a synthetic fiber known for its high durability and heat resistance. Kevlar knives are best for their longevity, requiring little-to-no maintenance that lasts for years. The cost of this durability is a less bright and shorter-lasting flame during a performance. Many times I’ve run into the problem where one end gets extinguished before I’m finished with my routine. Very annoying.

Boards are wood-comprised material commonly made from sound board. Boards are known best for holding a bigger and longer-lasting flame during a performance, however they require regular maintenance and replacement compared to their kevlar counterpart. Depending on how much fuel is added, one set of boards can last about a month when used every day.

Metal wire is used to fasten the kevlar/boards to the knife.

Fuel

Fire dancers use White Gas, which is a more refined version of regular gasoline. White Gas is purified so there are less additives, burns cleanly with minimal odor, evaporates quickly when spilled, and maintains a bright flame. You can really use any type of flammable liquid to fuel the flames, White Gas is the industry standard and best practice due to its less invasive characteristics.

These are just some insider facts on how fire dancers prepare for their performances. Enjoy this confidential information ;)

March Progress

Back in June 2023, I started a 1-year challenge where I would practice every single day for 1 year straight; currently I’m on day 299/365.

Group of Fire Dancers

Back in January 2023, I attended a Fire Knife workshop in Colorado where I met some other Fire Knife dancers in the country. One of them, Kanoa, came to visit the other Chicago Fire Knife dancers and I this month where we got together to light up. This was a special moment because although there are other Fire Knife dancers in the city, we all dance for different Polynesian dance groups so we never actually perform together. Check out the vlog here.

Anyways, this session was also a good opportunity for me to practice on my new Fire Knife I got from Mikaele Oloa, a 5-time world champion Fire Knife dancer. Ever since I started back in 2018 I have only used kevlar knives, only recently as I’ve become more serious with Fire Knife dancing did I take interest in using board knives, so I’m slowly getting used to how they feel. And I’ll tell you, they are HOT. No joke, the flames are so much brighter than any kevlar board I’ve used and the flames lasted so much longer too. This will be a game changer for my performances because normally I was limited to a ~3min performance with kevlar knives due to the flame extinguishing early, now I can probably push an up-to 10-min show on a single light if I really needed to. Just need more time to get acquainted with my new knife.

Open Stage Festival

This past month I had another opportunity to perform at an indoor venue for an event called The Open Stage Festival. Check out the vlog here. This is pretty much your typical open mic that was open to all types of performances—music, poetry, dance, comedy—in a first come, first served manner. It was at The Promontory, a really dope venue next to The University of Chicago.

Overall the performance went really well. My original song length was gonna be about 5 minutes but they put a cap at 2 minutes, so I was scrambling before my time slot to get my music trimmed. The interesting part about this show was that I actually wasn’t allowed to use fire indoors by the building owner. The hosts of the show allowed me to do it unknowingly and right toward the end of my performance, the building owner started screaming and telling me to get off stage and that “obviously I can’t do that here”. Totally caught me by surprise.

Don’t worry, it all worked out fine. He came backstage after my performance and talked it out with the show hosts. In fact, they actually really loved my performance and said they were glad that I was able to show people what I could do. One of them is interested in potentially representing me so I can get more gigs and bookings, which would be amazing. There were also a lot of people taking professional videos and content there, so I really got to put my name out there and gained a lot of exposure. High risk, high reward!

Upcoming Short Film

Keep your eyes peeled in about a year because I’m gonna be in a short film! One of my friends from college, Daniel Zhang, is a film maker who created an amazing short film series called Wuxing Warriors. He hit me up this past month to be a part of his next short film called The Wind Walker, where I am going to be a teased villain at the end. I don’t want to give too much away just yet, but keep an eye out for a behind-the-scenes vlog coming out within the next week or two.

Those were the biggest highlights from this month. I’ve just really been continuing my Fire Knife training and becoming more smooth with my movements. As Chicago warms up in April, I want to begin practicing more on the lakefront and preparing for summer. 1% better everyday.

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: Ka’ka

Ka’ka is another fundamental move in Siva Afi. Referred to as “Tick Tock” in English, this move is primarily used for directional changes from spinning right to left and vise versa, imitating a clock.

That’s all I have for you this month, folks. I really like writing these newsletters regardless of who or how many people read them. It really helps with tracking my progress and to eventually reflect on them as time goes by. Thanks again for being here.

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

— Embers