The sharing of knowledge and development of talent has always been a key part of Firedrums, and workshops are the most visible aspect of this process. In

2008, Firedrums featured workshops taught by some of the best instructors in the world, and we expect this year to be no different. Last year we had both large and small workshops, at levels from introductory to advanced, on a large variety of different props and techniques- such as poi, staff, hoop, drumming, clubs, building equipment, and fire safety. Without members of the community stepping up and volunteering their time and effort to teach workshops, Firedrums would not have become what it is.


Firedrums is now accepting submissions to instruct workshops for 2009.


Guidelines for workshop submissions are shown below. The deadline for submissions is Friday March 13th, 2009.


Firedrums 2009 Workshop Submission Guidelines/Instructions
Workshops will be submitted though the firedrums website this year. In order to submit a class, please do the following:

1. Create a login at www.firedrums.org
-upload a pic and short bio (that we can link to your workshop)
2. Click on the "Classes" tab
3. Click on "Click here to submit a new class or affinity group"
4. Fill out the form (ignore the "class track" tab, that is a holdover from the wildfire site which kindly shared software with us.)
-make sure to include if you will have extra props to borrow if it is an unusual class
-let us know when you will be able to teach, the earliest workshops are thursday afternoon and the latest are sunday at noon.

Please keep in mind that there will be limited space for workshops, we'll do our best to allow everyone to participate, but every year some workshops get turned down. If you have a few workshops you'd be able to teach, please submit them both.
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silence.

I'll be teaching on tuesday nights at 7:15 in downtown sacramento (8th street, near J & H).

Weekly, Staff or poi. Also private classes by appointment. Fire poi and fire staffs (as well as wick and hardware) are also available for sale, at the studio or otherwise. Message me for more details on classes or fire props....

I'll be helping teach a workshop next month in Oakland, with the Vulcan crew - it should be a lot of fun, some very fun, talented people are in on this. If anyone is interested, the posting and contact information is below...



>>>>
Join us for a weekend of intense poi at The Vulcan Spinagogue.

Spinagogue is a weekend poi intensive designed to radically improve your poi skill while immersing you in Bay Area fire scenery: 12 workshops, 4 catered meals plus snacks, a fire jam at NIMBY and a trip to the Crucible's Fire Arts Festival.

The Vulcan is a hotbed of fire arts located in the heart of "lovely" industrial East Oakland. In addition to hosting the east bay's best and brightest spin jam, the Vulcan is home to over 75 local performers and artisans of all types. Three workshop spaces and two living areas inside the Vulcan will host our festivities. Free Lodging (sorry, just couches) will be available Friday through Sunday for participants from outside the bay area. Additionally, hotels are available locally at about $70 a night.

The weekend costs $160 including food, workshops and fun, including a $60 non-refundable deposit. The Crucible Fire Arts Festival is an additional optional $40 ticket.

Please Note: In order to limit class size, registration will be capped at 10 participants, 5 beginner and 5 intermediate.

Beginner: You have learned several tricks and spent the time to become comfortable with them. A 90 min practice session does not sound overwhelming.

Intermediate: You are comfortable with a wide variety of basics and have experimented with some of the following: isolations, stalls, pendulums, polyrhythm, anti-spin, atomics, tosses, etc.

Check out the schedule of events below as well as the workshop descriptions... and contact us SOON to reserve your place at:

sanfranfire@gmail.com


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Schedule of Events

Friday the 13th(!): Meet, greet and eat.

We begin the weekend with a welcome dinner at the Vulcan. There will be four amazing vegan meals prepared for us over the weekend which are all included in the ticket price. Dinner will begin promptly at 5pm.

At 7pm we will be heading out to The Crucible Fire Arts Festival (July 12th-14th).

"Seventh Annual Fire Arts Festival—an amazing open-air exhibition of fire performance, fire sculpture, and interactive fire art. Here, you will see artists who work with fire, taming and shaping this wild element. Flames flicker on the antlers worn by stiltwalking performers; dancers spin flaming balls and hoops of fire. Metal sculptures blaze—and fire itself is sculpted to form a blazing tornado that towers above the crowd."

www.thecrucible.org/fireartsfestival/

Sounds good huh...Tickets are $40 and are NOT included in the price of the weekend. If you plan on attending this event as well please let us know. We will be forming a mob to cheer for Spinagogue instructors Ian Smith and KT.

After the event we will be returning to The Vulcan for a night of relaxation and preparation for...

Saturday the 14th: Workshops, workshops, workshops

Workshops begin at 12pm and run till 8pm. Brunch at 11am, dinner at 8pm snacks all day. Saturday night KEEP SPINNING as we jam with Bay Area spinners at The Vulcan.

Sunday the 15th: Workshops, dinner, fire.

Workshops begin at 12pm and run till 6:30pm. Brunch at 11am, snacks all day and at 6:30 a special dinner. We'll be inviting a whole host of folks from the bay area spin scene to enjoy this final meal with us, so get ready to make some friends.

NIMBY! 9pm-11pm. After dinner we'll be headed out to NIMBY for a goodbye spin at one of the bay area's premier fire arts warehouses.

www.nimbyspace.org/

Late night diner? mmm... breakfast...

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Workshops

Twelve workshops in all with two tracks, one for poi beginners, and one for intermediate students. Four of the classes are targeted at your level (8 in all), with four more workshops attended by everyone.

Beginner

Saturday:
Aileen Lawlor: Beginner Poi
Greg Maldonado: Timing and Direction

Sunday:
Krissy Humphreys: Flowers
Greg Maldonado: Nü Poi Fundamentals

Intermediate

Saturday:
Noel Yee (Noel-ski): I-3... Isolation, Inversions and Insides
Noel Yee (Noel-ski): Under the Leg and Through Wraps

Sunday:
KT: Dance Dance Information
Ian Smith: Spin from the Hip


Everybody

Saturday:
Silence and Ayala, of FLUX: Beginning Partner Poi
Greg Maldonado: Video Viewing

Sunday:
Ian Smith: Poi Dance for Everybody
Noel Yee (Noel-ski): Video Viewing


Krissy Humphreys: Flowers

Learn the full scope of the class of tricks known as flowers. Cover all the variations of timing and direction... three, four, five and more petals... wall plane and wheel plane... now let's learn it all again in anti-spin!


Aileen Lawlor: Beginner Poi

The beginners' class will cover planes, timing and direction, weaves, butterflies, corkscrews, pinwheels and lockouts. Emphasis will be placed on ensuring that students have a solid grasp of tricks from every category.


Noel Yee (Noel-ski): Under the Leg and Through-Wraps

Get your legs and arms involved by learning techniques that can be used to push the poi through negative space under you and around and between parts of the body. Techniques here include elbow, foot, knee and neck through-wraps, weaves and butterflies under the legs.


Noel Yee (Noel-ski): I-3... Isolation, Inversions and Insides

In this class the theory and practice of poi isolations will be discussed. Learn how to place isolations around your body and into tricks you already know. In addition, discover the world of inversions and insides though simple tricks devised to make learning tech-poi FUN!


Noel Yee (Noel-ski): Video Viewing

Noel's tour of the best and brightest poi spinners on the internet.


Silence and Ayala, of FLUX: Beginning Partner Poi

An introductory level class covering technical moves and choreography in relation to poi duets. Technical emphasis will be on two-person interactive moves, rather than simultaneous moves. How to choreograph a routine from scratch will also be discussed. Bring a partner or find one in class.


Ian Smith: Poi Dance for Everybody

You move your poi... have you ever let your poi move you? Join Ian to explore some ideas about how body movement can influence your poi and vice versa.


Ian Smith: Spin from the Hip

This class is all about the pretty under-curve that the wrist does when transitioning at the hip. We will examine underutilized and less complicated versions of moves you probably already know, like the 2-beat weave, as well as some new techniques. Using the hip transition can make the same pattern look completely different, and the audience will notice the difference between the 3-beat and 5-beat weave.


Greg Maldonado: Timing and Direction (aka The Best Shoulder Workout Ever)

This class is an in-depth look at timing and direction. Emphasis will be placed on learning the look and feel of the four primary combinations of timing and direction with poi. Exercises designed to extend your range of control with each of these combinations will be taught.


Greg Maldonado: Nü Poi Fundamentals

Pendulums and 1.5's, Isolation boot camp and stalls, anti-spin!


Greg Maldonado: Video Viewing

Greg will lead you on a tour of his favorite performance videos asking the question "What makes a video/performance entertaining?" Time will also be dedicated to analyzing the variety of aesthetic presentations (making fun of people). Hours of the internet's finest for your perusal.

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If you have questions, comments or are interested in joining us for this special event contact us at:

sanfranfire@gmail.com