Glowing fire twirling through the air, burning poles, and circles of flame might not be what you expected to find at WesFest. But if you were on Foss Hill at 10 p.m. last night, your expectations might have been set ablaze when you caught a glimpse of the flaming spheres and burning batons spun by members of Prometheus, Wesleyan’s student-run fire-spinning club.
While other types of fire-spinning are performed elsewhere, Prometheus is a solely Wesleyan phenomenon. On sunny days, Prometheus members can be seen on Foss Hill or around the Butterfield Courtyard practicing new techniques with names like ‘backwards weave’, ‘butterfly’ and ‘the fireball.’ Though Prometheus performances are infrequent due to difficult choreography and lengthy practice time, each show gathers a large, captivated audience.
For many Prometheus members, it’s the thrill and challenge of performing with fire that keeps them practicing.
“[Even after two years] it still impresses me,” said Prometheus core member Albert Hill ’07. “It’s fire and it’s spinning around you.”
For core member Arthur Sugden ’08, Prometheus performances are more about fire-dancing.
“What makes it impressive is to keep it as a dance and also not get burned,” she said. “You focus so much on the movement that you don’t focus on anything else around you. Some people meditate, I do Prometheus.”
Ailish Bateman ’09 enjoys impressing her friends and family. When she returned home during spring break, she performed for her friends on her lawn.
“All my friends were like ‘That’s so cool! Can I try?’ and I was like ‘No,’” Bateman said.
Another exciting aspect that accompanies spinning fire is the noise it makes.
“[Fire] make this amazing whirring sound when you spin it,” Bateman said.
Despite the excitement of performing, safety remains the club’s top priority. Whenever anyone is spinning with fire, trained spotters stand by with wet towels and proper supplies, including a fire extinguisher and kitty litter. All members are instructed to wear natural fibers and wet their hair when spinning fire.
“Prometheus is only dangerous if you don’t practice and are cocky,” said Prometheus co-leader Rachel Seebacher ’06.
Prometheus members are not concerned with accidentally hurting themselves. Minor singes and burnt hair are not unusual.
“I don’t really worry about [getting hurt] that much,” Bateman said. “If you hit yourself it’s not a massive problem.”
During the first Prometheus show of the year, Sugden was performing a movement called “the monkey wave,” and accidentally lit his back on fire. After a spotter put the fire out, he was taken to the hospital. There, he was diagnosed with second and third-degree burns over some 60 square centimeters on his back. He was told he might have to receive a skin graft. However, after a month in various types of bandages and a new scar in the shape of Italy on his back, Sugden is performing again, though he has become more cautious.
“You play with fire, you get burned, but you learn a lesson out of it,” Sugden said. “[And] a burn on your back won’t hurt your social life.”
This semester, Prometheus has around 25 regularly attending members: 15 beginners and 10 more advanced core members. Included in the core are four leaders: Seebacher, Teague Hopkins ’06, Jenny Low ’06, and Tsultrim Davis ’06. Practice is twice a week, with one open practice on Thursday for everyone in the club, and one practice in which core members choreograph dances for performance.
At first, beginning members learn how to spin staff – metal rods, or poi – metal chains with flaming spherical wicks at the ends. More advanced members own other ‘toys,’ including swords, snakes, plugs, fire diabolos, double swords, and fire fans. Members make most of Prometheus’ fire-spinning devices from supplies ordered online.
Prometheus receives most of its funding for fuel and other supplies from the Wesleyan Student Assembly, and the group is respected by students and staff members alike.
“The campus staff in general gets a huge kick out of us,” Seebacher said. “You know, everyone loves fire…”
Prometheus has come a long way since 1999, when Nicholas Grossman ’03 founded the group. According to Seebacher, with changes in leadership have come changes in Prometheus. The group has gone from “those kids who appeared and lit stuff on fire,” to an internationally recognized troupe.
Making friends in Prometheus might be the least-challenging aspect of Prometheus. As a bonding experience at the beginning of the year, every Prometheus member soaked one hand in fuel and lit it on fire, before blowing it out. The group also often plays ‘hot potato’, a game that consists of dipping a spherical wick in fuel, lighting it on fire, and throwing the burning wick to other people.
“Prometheus is a testament that no matter what you want to do, you can do it at Wesleyan,” Hill said.
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