The ancient art of fire dancing began hundreds of years ago by the people of Polynesia. It is hard to know exactly where in Polynesia it began, since the area spans over 4,000 square miles and consists of hundreds of islands, but it is believed that the Maori people of New Zealand were the first pioneers as the originators of poi. (Zen Arts) Many different cultures throughout history have combined fire and dance, although it didn’t become popular in America until the early 1990s. Fire and dance have been used for sacred purposes, festivals, celebrations, rituals, art, storytelling, theatrics, and healing at some point in almost every culture since the beginning of humans. Poi, a Maori word meaning “ball on a string”, was originally used by warriors as a form of exercise to train for battle and hunting. Swinging the balls developed wrist strength and flexibility which helped in handling different weapons or tools. Gradually though, poi began to be used as a form of storytelling and dance, which translates to our modern uses. However, it did not actually become a tool for fire dance until the mid-20th century, after Uluao Letuli performed the first ailao (Samoan knife dance) on fire. Since Uluao’s fire knife performance was such a success, the rest of the Polynesian dancing instruments such as poi, staff, and hoop were quickly modified to become fire-dancing toys. The popularity of these kinds of performances inspired many other fire toys to begin popping up, including fire fans, fire umbrella, fire whips, even fire jump-ropes, and the list only continues to grow. Just as the popularity of fire dancing continues to spread.
By Tiger Marine Charter Phuket, Thailand
www.tigermarinecharter.com