Great balls of spinning, fiery Kevlar!
That’s a common encounter for fire spinners Pierce Knauber-Ferriegel, Tyler Chapman and Stuart Knight-Williamson, members of the group Ignite Poi.
The group will perform tonight at the Nob Hill Shop N’ Stroll in front of the Bike Coop. Knauber-Ferriegel said Ignite Poi mostly performs to techno music, but the group can also spin to drumming.
The Kevlar balls are called poi, and they are soaked in kerosene and spun on chains. Knauber-Ferriegel said spinning is a lot of fun, but there are risks involved.
“(Last week) we got some new poi, and when you soak it in kerosene you have to spin it all out because it will come off the poi,” Knauber-Ferriegel said. “And some hit me in the head and there is probably still a burn.”
Knauber-Ferriegel said he learned how to spin poi from twirling more benign glow sticks.
“The way I got into it was actually, Stuart taught one of his old friends how to do a simple raving thing with lights,” Knauber-Ferriegel said. “And then he taught another guy who actually taught me. And then I got into spinning poi. And you just start out with shoe strings with glow sticks on the end.”
Chapman said he met Knauber-Ferriegel in a class at CNM and they discovered they had similar interests.
“Over the summer of 2008 we started to hang out more and he started to show me glow sticking,” Chapman said. “And then finally, about six months ago after we had gotten good at it, we said ‘Let’s start doing fire poi and let’s buy a set and let’s see how it works.’ And let me tell you, it was scary.”
It was then the two met Knight-Williamson at a party and decided to form a group.
“I just had a friend show me how to spin back in high school, and then I didn’t touch it again for three years,” Knight-Williamson said. “And then these guys came along and they already had some fire stuff set up, so I picked it up with them.”
Knight-Williamson said the main attraction to fire spinning is the adrenaline rush. He said he also enjoys the friendship aspect.
“We all learn individually and then we get together once a week or so and teach each other the new moves,” he said.
The group members have performed at Shop N’ Stroll before for donations and as a way to get their name out to the public.
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“It’s my boss (at the Bike Coop) that lets us do this for Shop N’ Stroll,” Knight-Williamson said. “(To perform) you have to have a business submit the idea to the Nob Hill Business Association. So he gives us the store front to set up in front of.”
Chapman said they always carry first aid kits and fire extinguishers with them when they perform, but there are still some accidents they can’t prevent.
“There was one little incident over at Stuart’s house, and we had two sets of poi going,” Chapman said. “All of the sudden we heard a whistle and people cheering and then we looked back and heard a crash. And (there were) two cars, one was in the turning lane and it was turning while they were looking at us, and then there was a car coming down the street and they just crashed. They never came over to us to say anything.”
Chapman said if anyone is interested in learning to spin, Ignite Poi is always looking for people to join the group.
*Ignite Poi
Nob Hill Shop N’ Stroll
In front of the Bike Coop
3407 Central Ave. N.E.
6 – 10 p.m.
Free
*
