You may know her as “that girl who spins fire in a bra,” but Kim Prosise ’11 is more than that. She’s dedicated to the art of fire spinning, which is much more complicated than simply lighting stuff on fire and dancing around.
The Argus: How did you get into Prometheus?
Kim Prosise: I got into it when I was freshman. I saw people performing with fire in the Butterfields and I thought it was beautiful. My hall mates convinced me to go for it and it was a really fun group of people.
A: Now for the question everyone’s been wanting to ask: Why the bra?
KP: I find this really funny. It was never something I knew people were curious about. One: It’s marginally safer; less clothing equals less that can catch on fire. Most of us wear jeans, too. It’s fairly difficult to light denim on fire. Two: Why not? Fire shows are limiting spaces in some ways. The audience is already seeing something surreal, so you can pretty much wear whatever you want provided that it’s fire safe. I wasn’t aware that everyone wanted to know that.
A: Why did you start going shirtless?
KP: A bunch of people used to do it. I just did because it’s comfortable and I just like it better.
A: When and why did you start taking a leadership role with Prometheus?
KP: I really started the end of my sophomore year. I was one of the people most involved in the group and I had a lot of ideas. I had the most initiative and once I learned the administrative details, it just happened. The previous leaders all just assumed that I’d be the one to do it. I really like it and I think I made positive changes.
A: What changes have you made?
KP: I’ve stressed safety a lot. I’ve really formalized it. I’ve given the group procedures for making sure that our common sense safety practices get followed and that the administration recognizes that. I’ve also really tried to make the group aware of the larger fire arts and spinning community, and make them aware of us. I started the Winter Fire Arts Workshop here, which got some coverage on a blog that spinners from all over the world follow. It’s really satisfying to give everyone space to share their knowledge and it makes us less of an isolated group. I’ve also emphasized the difference between jamming with each other and putting on a show for an audience, which has had cool results. I started our YouTube channel.
A: With your emphasis on safety, have there been any accidents?
KP: No, not in my time here.
A: Have you burnt yourself?
KP: I have burnt myself before, but only minorly and only on purpose.
A: Why on purpose?
KP: Fire spinning is remarkably safe if you know what you’re doing. I have a very good idea of what is and is not O.K. Sometimes, I choose to do things that I’m fully aware could lead to a small burn, but are otherwise safe. It’s controlled and I let my safety person know what’s happening beforehand. Honestly, I mostly burn myself when making apple pie. It’s really very dangerous; you should use the buddy system when making apple pie.
A: Are you interested in pursuing fire spinning outside of college?
KP: I’d be interested in talking about it and doing it for the rest of my life, but I wouldn’t want to try to make a living with it. It’s really hard and really competitive and requires more work than I’m willing to put in right now. Making a living in any kind of performance art is difficult. Also, you’re using fire, so venues are limited.
A: How do you create your routines?
KP: Fire spinning is a lot of dance; there are a lot of spinners that don’t even use fire. It’s referred to as object manipulation or flow art. There’s juggling, poi, staff, hula-hoop, rope dart, fans, wand, orb, double staff, and a bunch of different things. The general idea is that you have this simple object that you can move around with in a creative way. It’s remarkable what you can do with very simple objects, and many techniques cross over from one object to another. For example, you can use a staff and a hula-hoop in much the same way sometimes, but they ultimately have different characters. Prometheus tends to light these things on fire, but there are also glow versions, plain versions. People often just do it for fun, not necessarily for performance. You’ll see object manipulation in a lot of different cultures. Many Asian cultures have long histories of fan dancing and the eighties in America sort of propelled hula-hoop exercise. Poi came from New Zealand originally. Rope dart is a Chinese weapon. People have been spinning sticks since year one. However, it’s very new to group these things together under the term flow art.
A: So why fire?
KP: I’m not a pyro if that’s what you’re asking. Some people come to Prometheus because they are. But, you can’t just like burning things… you have to put effort into the spinning aspect of it and you have to listen to me yell a lot about safety. We make it pretty clear that we’re not just a bunch of kids playing with matches. Fire is something I’ve never worked with before Prometheus. It’s really a dynamic medium. Audiences just don’t know what to do with it. We get the question, “Is that real fire?” all the time. It’s just like, “Yes, it is, you just saw it come out of this lighter.” I think it’s because people see fire as something that’s dangerous, something that you’re not supposed to touch, and something that’s out of control. It’s not, you just need to have a healthy respect for it and never misuse it. If you have the right training and use the right fuel, you can do really amazing things with it.
A: What’s Prometheus doing this semester?
KP: We had a show planned for Valentines’ Day, but because of weather it’s TBA. We do a show at Wesfest every year and that’s really fun. People come up to me all the time and say “Wow, I saw you at WesFest, you’re that fire girl!” People even come up to me and say that they partly decided to come to Wesleyan because they saw our show. It’s happened more than 10 times. It’s a really awesome thing to hear. And we usually also do a smaller reunion show for the alumni. Fire spinning tends to die a bit in the winter, but once it gets warm out you’ll see a bit more of us.