Fire show stole into the freezing night

ROSA-KAROO LOEWE 

It was nine degrees outside, and two pairs of socks and thermals were no match for the plummeting Makhanda temperatures, but audiences of the Story of Fire were captivated by the flickering magic of the flames.

On Thursday night, fire dancer Selah Joy, 32, from “the forests” of the garden route, pranced around the Amazwi Amphitheatre for her second year at the National Arts Festival, surrounded by parents and young children engrossed by the spectacle. 

Though the outside white lights of the Amazwi Literary Museum building drowned out some of the firelight’s magic, the youngsters were captivated by the flow of flames. 

Joy begins cloaked in black, coaxing an audience member — East London designer Vicky Schlimper — to help ignite the show’s first sparks with a small bow and nest of dry kindling, as the audience chants a song of encouragement to get the ball rolling. 

Once ablaze, the kindling is used to light the wick of an iron oil lamp, Joy’s source flame as she dances with the efficiency and grace of a trained professional, her poi tools getting larger and more extravagant as the show progresses. 

In an attempt to create narrative, Joy begins with the symbolic relationship between fire and the soul, and delves into personal anecdotes from her own life, from living in a tent for three months during the Covid-19 pandemic to watching the life bleed out of her mother’s eyes.

The conversational nature of the performance was painful in the arctic temperatures and the extended duration of what was an expected 45-minute show to a full hour did not help, so be warned that this may bleed into your Festino schedule. 

The dancing was beautiful. Dressed in a velvet red-tasselled costume, with glittering eyeshadow, Joy moves from small fireballs to swinging fully lit batons, claw-like wings and finale — a boar-like headdress, winged armbands and hand contraptions all ablaze.

She even drops into the splits, spoiler alert.  

Speaking to Joy after her first show, she thanked her audience members for joining her. 

“I think everybody loves fire, it brings people together. Fire is the centre of our existence,” she said. 

“I think NAF is going to keep growing and get warmer, hopefully!” 

“I was here last year for the first time and I knew I had to come back for the vibe.

“I feel so grateful to the audiences who make the journey to come and support the arts.” 

Standing with his mother, Debbie, after the show, Leo Labuschagne, 7, from Makhanda, said he was blown away by the experience. 

Labuschagne said: “It was amazing! I’ve never seen a fire show before. When I get home I’m going to make a little nest and make a baby fire!”

His friend, Darion Smuts, 7, also from Makhanda, said: “It was the best show I’ve ever seen! Except for the laser show.” 

Story of Fire also runs on  June 24, 28, 29, 30 and July 1 at the AMAZWI Storytelling Amphitheatre.