Tribal and magical - this ritual is performed against the pulsing rhythms
of drums by a Polynesian artist who weaves his baton-like fire knives around his
entire body, from his feet to his palms to his mouth in a style that is seductively
dangerous.
Fire is an esential part in any society. Here, Cirque uses
fire to show turmoil and upheval in the world. Performed
by a wonderful artist from the Pacific Islands, the entire
stage bathes in the glow of his flame. He takes the firesticks
from the gold and silver dressed Fast Track artists and lights
it with his hands. With a Polynesian flair, the fire blurs in
rings of light stopping only long enough for him to wash the
fire over his skin. After twirling one such stick, he is brought
another and the adventure begins all over again.
In the end, a clown appears and uncovers a single candle,
which he had hidden under his clothes. Mocking the previous
performance, he moves the candle from side to side, up and
down, and around his arms. And in a finale to rival all
finales, the clown wets his fingers and snuffs out the candle
light, burning himself.
(Sometimes performed as a duo.)
The Fire-Knife Dance was not originally part of the
Alegría line-up when the show premiered on April 21, 1994. Rather, as the show
went its way through Canada and began its tour of the United States, the artistic
directors realized the production lacked an essential element - fire! - so they
dispatched one of their talent scouts to the Pacific where they found Tovo Lisiate
Tuione, who joined the tour in San Jose sometime in September 1994 as a back-up
act. [Fun Fact: Fire marshals must approve his act in each city the show visits.
As such he was not allowed to perform in Chicago (26 July to 27 August 1995).]
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