The picturesque fire shows which nowadays we can often see in clubs or just in the streets of the night cities will never lose their attractiveness, especially for European people.
This kind of art made a long way from goetic flung to mesmerizing dance. According to a legend on one of the holidays the flash inflamed the second end of a ceremonial torch in the hands of a shaman when he performed a battle dance in front of his tribesmen. The bright flash lightened the faces of men, they were not afraid of unexpected tour de force – they began to approach to a dancing shaman lighting their torches and doing some simple movements with fire. From then on the shaman selected the most talented youngsters and taught them how to “treat” the tame fire. The Maori was fascinated by the view so much that from then on they introduced that strange couple – a man and fire – to all their holidays.
Soon the Maori realized that they created not only magical practice but a completely new kind of art and began to develop it very actively. They didn’t dwell only on torches and sticks with fire – the dance was more important for them, charming and mesmerizing, they introduced new movements all the time and those movements were taken from everything – from the stream of wind, from the movements of nature, birds and animals. Then poi appeared (from the beginning it was some kind of a bag to carry eggs). Women swirled poi accompanying them with melancholy songs – their movements seemed very slow and soft, the light touches of girls’ hands to the fire drove the public into entrancement. From the beginning the men’s style was very rhythmical and energetic, it contained a lot of difficult elements.
The Maori didn’t try to preserve and hide their art from foreigners, on the contrary, they took the pupils who wanted to learn this art and taught them with pleasure.
The first Western adapts of this art was surfers who easily and with delight adopted new strange dances. Their shows in European countries was a sensation, a lot people came to look at them and not only to look but to learn this art. New kind of art took over the world very quickly, in 60s fire Poi were widely used in the circus performances. Hippie also did their bit in spreading fire shows all over the world. They organized trance festivals which gathered very numerous public combining them with fire shows.
Step by step this kind of art become the deal of professionals because of the complexity of its movements. In Europe and the USA it became the mainstream and nowadays we can see the people performing in the streets of big cities in groups or solo. Young and flexible boys and girls dancing in the ring of fire and taming it have always attracted attention and gathered big crowds of admirers and fans around them. In spite of the great interest to fire shows all over the world New Zealand is still an unbeaten leader in this field. There are the best schools of Poiing in New Zealand, it produces the best ammunition for fire shows, the best specialist of Poiing graduate from its schools and the largest fire show festival take place there
Poi History
There are many cultures around the world who have also developed a similar art form (eg. Bola). In most instances they evolved from swinging weapons.
The word "Poi" is the name given to this art form by the Maori people of New Zealand. So when we talk about the history of Poi it will be the New Zealand history. The Poi dance was originally used by the Maori women for keeping their hands flexible for weaving and by the men for strength and coordination required during battle. Poi were also used as a training aid for other ancient weapons like the Mere or Patu.
"Poi" is the Maori word for "ball" on a cord. It is a form of juggling where the balls are swung around the body. If we take a language focus this word is both plural and singular. (I have one Poi, he has two Poi).
From it's beginnings Poi had the purpose of enhancing dance and rhythm. Also they were used to attract the members of the opposite sex. Mastering simple Poi moves they could quickly improve self-esteem and even gain respect from others.
On Hawaii Island Poi were also well-known. Poi was a rootlet rolled up in leaves of the plant Taro and attached to a rope. Indigenous people used it to develop strength by swirling it. They used two 2 to avoid irregular development of a body.
Women as well men swirled Poi in small towns. The only difference between the Poi for men and women was the weight of the ends. Women used lighter ones and they swirled it to entertain their admirable men.
This art could have been forgotten with the time like other kinds of folk art but it the middle of 20th century this art has been revived. Nowadays fire shows are an indispensable part of almost every circus performance. In 60s the circus troupes giving performances in Australia took into consideration “a new format” of fire shows. Besides the well-known kinds of fire shows such as firebreathing and firejuggling, they introduced firespinning and firetwirling.
And now I’d like to say a few words about different kinds of Poi.
Fabric Poi
Although Poi traditionally was made using natural fibres like Raupo, the more common traditional Maori Poi are made from soft fabrics.
Plastic bags, sponges and knitting wool are used in making of the Maori "home made" Poi.
The main objective these days is to provide a user friendly experience with the Poi with a highly visable appearance. Shape can differ from round to egg shaped.
Poi handles take many forms from simple knots in the end of cords, looped handles with swivels, rings and even smaller balls which enable easier throwing and catching of the Poi in more advanced tricks.
Tailed Poi
A large visual statment can be made by adding comet tails the Poi ball. The tails have the added effect of improving your plane control to prevent the tails tangling. It is handy to be able to remove the comet tails when learning some more difficult moves, and once the move is achieved then they can be added back on again.
Poi comet tails can be many lengths and shapes. They can even be streamers, or ribbons. Some are very bright fluorescent colors that glow under ultra violet (UV) light.
Sock Poi
Instead of adding comet tails to the Poi ball you can enhance the visual impact of the cords with the Sock design.
Specific Poi socks have different stretch, shape and method for adding weights or may even be transparent enough to allow the use of LED Poi balls for added effect.
The Sock Poi at it's simplist form is just a pair of long knee high socks.
Poi Flags
You can also add a comet tail that runs from the handle to the end of the Poi to create a Flag appearance. Poi Flags provide a huge visual statement.
They are different to normal "flagging" Flags in that they have a swivel and handles so that continuous rotating moves can be achieved.
Poi Flags can be many sizes and shapes. They can even be decorated with streamers, or ribbons.
Most Poi moves can be done with Flags
Glow, LED lighted Poi
Spectacular swirling light shows for night or indoor spinning. Ideal as a replacement for Fire Poi when Fire is not allowed.
LED (light emitting diodes) provide a very robust and impact resitant light source. LED's also have a life of 50,000+ hours, are very efficient and available as "ultra bright" making them ideal in the making of LED lighted Poi.
Onlookers are attracted as the floating trail of light chases behind the Poi while you dance.
LED Poi are available in a number of packages, colours and RGB types that can change and cycle through a rainbow of colours.
Fire Poi
For extreme visual impact people usually use Fire. The sight of flames flying around someone as they dance is a real crowd pleaser.
The Fire Poi head encompases of a wick and an attachment for your chains. There are different materials that can be used as Wicks, however the most common is a KEVLAR ® blended wick. KEVLAR ® wicks can be reused many many times if you look after them. Fire Poi heads can be many styles, shapes and sizes like Cathedral , Monkey Fist and Snake to name a few.
Fire adds a lot of danger to the spinning if you are not prepared and follow all safety proceedures. You should make yourself familiar with the online fire training and safety guides.
The final Curios © phrase:
“Fire and water are good servants, but bad masters”
(English saying)
