Spinning

The spinning of fire and light is everywhere. Of course there is Burning Man, where twirling of light and fire have been done on a large scale for years. Recently in NYC, there was One Night of Fire, where revelers met on the Brooklyn Bridge to go on a roving street fest - spontaneously moving throughout the city by foot and subway to end up on the beach in Coney Island. This event was organized by the Danger - see their site for photos (I did not go because it was the same night as the Sheriff Session). The fellow in the photo is Sage (I revealed last year in a comment to a posting my business involvement with the juggling community). The photo is a long exposure of him spinning color changing lighted poi where the balls slowly change through the color spectrum. Poi, which traces its way back to the Maori of New Zealand, consists of a set of balls each tethered to a cord and finger strap. One is held in each hand and the pair of objects is swung in various patterns. The balls themselves can be be made in any number of materials/designs, including illuminated or fire versions. Swinging and twirling of poi and other objects (fans, flags, juggling clubs, torches, meteors, glowsticks, ribbons, staff) can be seen in parks, rave parties, juggling festivals and various planned and unplanned gatherings and events (such as Figment - click here for recent posting). Entire small businesses have been created which specialize is this type of equipment. The new big thing in the last couple of years: hula hoops - plain, brightly colored, lighted or fire ...