2 • IA
CKA MA
April 27, 2005 Featur
Print
ABOVE: Argo
Vancouver
Bimonthly Fire Dance Jam brings forth crowds on the Portland streets
Elizabeth Tobey
ropes to use for exercise and martial
arts training. Swinging the bags, or
The Clackamas Print
poi, improved hand and wrist flex
ibility, coordination and strength.
The Maori people did not origi
Streaks of fire and pounding
drums filled the night air asacrowdof nally use poi with fire. Instead toe
people gathered at the end of Salmon poi were used as percussive instru
Street for Portland’s bimonthly Fire ments and combined with dancing
and chanting to tell stories, similar
Dance Jam and Drum Circle.
Kids in leather and mohawks to toe way Hula dancing uses hand
joined dread-headed drummers, and symbols for storytelling.
It’s not clear exactly when people
mothers set up folding chairs for
their children. Cans of fuel lined began setting poi on fire. But now,
the cement area underneath the 1-5 instead of being woven from natural
overpass as about 20 dancers milled fibers, poi are usually constructed
from synthetic material, such as
around preparing to bum.
Accompanied by the rhythms Kevlar wick, with a chain or cord
from the drum circle the evening and loops for fingers to hold.
The traditional Hawaiian or
included performances with a vari
ety of fire toys including poi, staff, Samoan ailao, or knife dance, has
sword, baton, devil sticks, fire fin also been integrated into modem fire
gers, and hula-hoop, as well as fire dancing. The dance involves fini
painting and fire breathing.
ously twirling the nifo oti, or war
Now viewed as an exotic form of knife, and was used to prepare war
entertainment, fire dancing has roots riors for battle.
in Polynesian and New Zealand
Letuli Olo Misilagi was toe first
native cultures.
to add fire to a knife dance after
The traditions of the Maori peo being inspired by a fire-eater and
ple in New Zealand offer toe main baton twirler in San Francisco. Now
foundation of modem fire dance. it is a common performance piece
Originally they used a small bag to at Hawaiian luaus and for tourist
cany the egg of toe Moa, a large entertainment.
These days, fire enthusiasts will
flightless bird which is now extinct
Then they began putting stones take just about anything they can
inside toe bags and adding longer soak in lighter fluid and find a way
te dance with it
In the Portland area probably the
best place to see a wide variety of
fire performances is toe Fire Jam and
Drum Circle that takes place on toe
first and third Sundays of toe month
where Salmon Street dead-ends into
toe east side of the river.
Shireen Press and Delpha Turley
started the jam about four years ago.
“I called about 30 of my friends
that danced and said ‘let’s play,”’
said Press. “That was almost four
years ago and people still come down
every time.”
Starting at dusk drummers, danc
ers and onlookers gather for an eve
ning of fun and fire.
“It’s a good inspiration to come
down and see other people dance,”
said Kyla Broderick, who danced
early in the evening.
Press still dances regularly at toe
jam, and she and Turley both teach
private lessons in their homes. They
also produced an instructional video
available through their company,
Pele’s Element, www.peleselement
com.
For toe 21-and-over crowd there
are often fire performances at clubs
and bars. Dante’s and Embers regu
larly feature fire dancers.
Also, toe Society for Creative
Anachronism (SCA) hosts events
experiments
with a fire wl
at the most i
cent Fire Jan
Portland. LEf
Fire breathii
a very dange
ous art, also
took place a
the jam. The
breathers usi
lamp oil, be
cause it has
taste and ke
sene or whit
gas would bi
the breather
faces.
which often include fire.
“After Memorial Day, the SCA
has about one event a weekend,”
said Jeff Kyser, who was dancing
and working as a fire safety at toe
Portland Jam.
And for those eager to learn,
southeast Portland’s Euphoria
Studios, www.toecirclenetwork.com,
offers weekly classes for beginning
to advanced poi, taught by Charisse
Renee. The classes use practice poi
and for insurance reasons, fire is not
taught at the studio.
Other resources for instruct«
information and fire equipment
Serious Juggling, located in so
east Portland and at www.serious
gling.com, and The Home of Poi
Fire Twirling at wwwhomeof
com.
‘T guess I’m a pyromaniac,”
Argon Vancouver, who creates si
of his own fire toys. “But I just
the people who do it It’s a fund
to get together and do.”
Student photographer's works display natural beauty
Cl Ciaramella
The Clackamas Print
It’s only Becca Blevins’ first year
studying, photography at Clackamas
Community College, but the young
student is already turning heads, both
at toe college and beyond.
Blevins recently had a few of her»
photos displayed in a gallery during
First Thursday, a monthly joint-exhi
bition put on by many of toe galler
ies in the Pearl District She also
has an upcoming exhibition at toe
Twin Paradox coffee shop, located
in toe Sellwood District Her photos
will be on display there and for sale
throughout toe month of May.
In person, Becca Blevins.. is
bright smiling and genuinely excited
about her work. She was more than
happy to show her pictures, care
fully spreading some of her favorites
across toe table and explaining their
finer points. There’s no trace of
“snobby artist” to be found. She
credits some of her enthusiasm to
her teacher, Smith Elliot.
“She gets you inspired,” she
said.
There seems to be no shortage of
inspiration, though. Blevins’ folder is
thick with prints and contact sheets
of her photos. Her work shows a
natural eye for composition and tra
ditional photography technique, but
it also shows a willingness to experi
ment with form. Many of her photos
make use of complicated tricks like
layering and double-exposures.
Blevins was originally drawn to
photography because she found it to
be a unique art form, which allowed
her a much different freedom than
others, like painting.
“It’s about creating a little world
that people can step into,” she said.
Whatever it’s about, it appears
she has found her muse. The “little
worlds” that Blevins creates show
case a budding talent Her black-
and-white photos are eye-catching
and run a gamut of emotions - from
Student and photographer Becca Blevins bases much of her work on the relationship between
nature and humanity, as in this self portrait of Blevins, in which a flower emulates the human eye.
moody to serene to happy.
Blevins says a common th
running through her work is
relationship between nature
humanity.
“What is our place with nat
and how far are we removed f
it?” Blevins pondered.
Her photography explores fl
questions through the use of i
tasting images of people andna
a fem lazily draped across a hin
back, emulating the spine, or a fl
er placed parallel to a human eyi
Blevins’ plans after she le
Clackamas are still up in the
but she says that she is thinkin!
double-enrolling at PSU and
Hood Community College,
chose Mt. Hood for its photogra
program, but said she prefers I
for further education.
The young photographer’s p
is full for the moment, how
Besides her Classes, she has o
projects.on the horizon.
‘T already got asked to do tj
weddings,” she said, “and I’m I
ting paid.”
She said she enjoysplaying“bl
ness person” at the moment, mai
order forms and other sheets.
If her current achievements (
workload are any indication,
future may be looking bright ind
for Blevins.