Summer Time Fun!

October and November were quite busy for us.  Our members were busy with exams (and life), yet still found the time to razzle dazzle at gigs.  Now that we are expanding into the ways of "fir-cus" (fire and circus), an interesting range of talents and toys are emerging.  Here are some of the gigs we have done over the past couple of months.



On the 8 and 9th of October, we performed at the entrance of the Burlesque Festival, greeting guests as they arrived at the Globe Theatre.  And what better way to greet people, than by getting out the big firey axe??

Looking festive at the festival.  This photo was taken of the gang at the Wanganui Festival of Cultures on the 17th October.  Never before have the Joker and Harley Quinn hung out together like this!

Photo courtesy of Darryl Mallett

We were also invited to be apart of the Wave Rave at the Lido Aquatic Centre on the 30th October.  It is a unique gig, as we are using and performing with fire INDOORS, as well as it being along the edge of a swimming pool full of children.  Twas certainly an interesting setting!

On Halloween, we were invited to perform at the St. Albans Come As You Are Mardi Gra, which was a non-costume family-friendly gig before their fireworks display.  

Rongotea have an AMAZING annual fireworks display on the 6th November, which we spin at before the fireworks start.  The Rongotea Fireworks gig is one of our busiest performances, and we have the space of an entire paddock to perform in for the very large audience.  

                   

The next day we were performing again at the very popular Cuba Carnival.  It was a bit of a challenge with wind, but the event went down without a hitch.   

Crosshill Gardens: we were invited to do a non-fire performance at the beautiful Crosshill Gardens in Kimbolton on the 8th of November.  We performed with a wide range of toys, including staff, glow poi, levistick and contact balls.  A couple of the very talented ladies even did an Adagio performance, which was extra impressive considering how slippery the ground was!

After our show and lunch with the guests, we went for a magical adventure around the gardens, where we were met with the illusive and mysterious Liam-Possum....

Legend has it that this mystical creature only appears once in a blue moon, but our "highly-experienced" camera crew snapped the creature in its natural habitat before it scuttled away.  

 Marton Market Day.  The weather was a bit miserable, but there are no sad faces here!   Our members took to the streets of Marton, bringing smiles and laughter to children and adults alike.  Once again the terrible twosome that is Joker and Harley Quinn were set loose! 

                                                         

We have certainly been busy lately and with so much more fun to come over the holidays.  So stay tuned for more fire-burning, staff-twirling, poi-spinning fun.  

Have a safe and happy Christmas,  

Tarah

The New Committee!

Good Moaning and Good Morrow!

My name is Tarah and I am the new secretary of the Massey University Fire Club, or Massey University Fire AND CIRCUS, as recently voted at our AGM meeting which was held in September.  New name, new committee, but our aim has always been the same; to perform and teach all things that burn, glow, juggle and spin.  So without further ado, allow me to present the delightful individuals who will be looking after the club for the next year.

President:  Lets have a big round of applause for Emma, the new president of MUFC.  'Tis Emmas second year on the committee and she is looking forward to being the face of club and what a lovely face she has (even when done in make-up to look like the joker!).  When she's not waving her firey fans, Emma can be found frolicking and performing in the Massey University Drama Society.

Secretary: Moving right along to me and my role.  This is the first time I've been on the committee and I'm really excited to be a part of this awesome team.  My weapons of choice are poi (fire, glow or tail) and I've just started teaching myself the levistick.  I love jamming with my poi and teaching others the craft too.

Performance Coordinator: This lovely lady is the master of multiple fire toys, most recently dazing audiences with her aerial acrobatics on the lyra.  Carolyn has been on the committee multiple times in different roles and isn't afraid to get busy mixing music and helping others with routines and costumes.







Fuel: For the first time, this role will be handled by a two-some, the almighty KaLe (Kathryn and Cole).  They guard and provide the fuel, that is the lifeblood of all of us at club.  One is a vet student, the other a food-technology student, but both are dazzling performers with the talent to match!






Gear & Safety: Clear the way for James and his big firey axe....and all the gear he will be carrying in his new role!  This big guy loves big fire toys, such as staff, his iconic axe and even has a homemade flame thrower.  James has a passion for science and destruction, so if he isn't in a lab, you'll find him creating and destroying things, all in the name of art.

Treasurer:  Liam's the name and numbers are the game-not just in his new role, but his current major too.  Liam is the baby of the club, but certainly not when he's on his stilts! He also enchants audiences with his devil stick and has a jam with the poi every now and then.

Patron:  Lets welcome back Lynelle,  Lynelle is another creative genius on the team, knowledgeable in many toys, even making some herself!  This lovely lady has been on the committee multiple times and is just an awesome person all round.

So that's us!   Don't let our committee roles fool you.  We are just a bunch of goofy fire-enthusiasts who love to learn, teach and bring the ways of the fire to everyone.  

Did someone say Costume Competition!??

So as most of you all know September marks our 10th birthday!

To celebrate and get the creative juices flowing we held a costume competition on the last Friday of the month.
With six members entering there was a wide range of ideas, colours and textures including feathers and tie die.

Like all semi organised competitions there was judging criteria

• Costume must be appropriate for a range of gigs 
• Is the costume uniqueness 
• Does it have the Pop/wow factor
• How practicality is the costume, and can it be used with a range of toys. 

• Finishing, will it last more then one performance and does it look complete?

 Although it was not required some members also had a background story to their costume.
Check out some of the photos and hopefully we can pull of another competition like this in the future.
Do you have a costume idea?? Give it a go!

Ben with his fantastic stilt pants! Stenciled shirt and finer detail done to the jacket.
A practical costume that can be used for all manner of roaming gigs for almost all crowds.
Plus he can still whip it, whip it real good. 

It started off as an explosion of colour...

 

And resulted in Carolyn's rainbow experience. Works incredibly well with that stunning contact ball
If you look super close check out that colourful mask. 

Both contact juggling and poi friendly! Versatile.... tick!

No matter what angle you look at this, the general agreement is this is a heck of a mess!

But resulted in something like a candy cane.

A multipurpose candy cane at that!
All the feathers and pompoms!

Add his massive fire axe and this guy is
a force to be reckoned with!

Our own Harlequin! Impressive amount of fabric paint used on this one and
our over all winner receiving a Home of Poi Voucher!
Detail right down to the shoes.

Some say crazy cat lady... I say cat enthusiast.
Cleopatra themed, this costume had detail from the necklace to the cat ears!

 

Have you heard the news? CELEBRATE

Each year the Palmerston North holds the Student City Cultural and Arts awards. These awards are presented to students of Palmerston North for the contributions to the community in specific areas of arts and culture.
This year there were eight catagories with seven judges. The Fire Club was nominated for best performing artist, and best cultural contribution.

This year the Student City co-coordinator planned a massive shindig for all people and groups who had been nominated and with delicious nibbles and drinks there was a huge turn out!

Very flash professional evening. The proof is in the
fact they had a printed program!

The host for the evening was Radio Control, breakfast show host Abi. Had everyone splitting their seams making the event entertaining alongside some local performances.

 The Fire Club was awarded with highly commended for our contributions to the culture of Palmerston North and even made it into the local NEWSPAPER. See that slightly crazy looking woman with glasses who looks like she had her hair style designed by wind and rain (the all natural look they call it) well that is one of the committee members that went up to accept the award, and roped our president into saying a speech!

Who has a laminator? I think this is a keeper!

Fantastic evening had all round and a huge congratulations to all of our members! A club is nothing without the members and the energy, skills, enthusiasm and passion you bring to the table.

Bring on some more fun events! Coming up we have the IPC Spring Festival, Wanganui Festival of Cultures, Marton Market day and a small scale Carnival! 

I will also note, we have held our AGM and have an almost brand new committee! So this will be my last post as I hand over the torch to our new Secretary who will take on this role later in the month!


He aha te mea nui o te au? He tangata he tangata he tangata
What is the most important thing in the world? It is the people, the people, the people.

Never seen before, behind the scenes footage!

Unity in Diversity 2015!

Last Friday the Club was part of a choreographed stage performance in a real theater with a real audience that people had to pay to see! Things are getting serious up in here.

 We had the fantastic opportunity to perform both LED/Glow toys and debut our aerial skills! I was operating back stage telling people when to change lighting and play music so have got a few quick snaps from behind the scenes.

Trying to eat glow sticks.... Back stage nerves starting to kick in perhaps? 

Quick last minute practice minutes before heading on stage!

Allllllll the glow sticks!

UV lights. Damn look at those socks and tie!
The devil sticks are also pretty cool :p 

Debut lyra performance!
This had better not be a one and only.

Crowd went wild thinking she was going to fall!
That girl has got some skill 

That concludes the exclusive behind the scenes photography but here are some of the more professional photographs done by MUSA photographer Nicholas Kan. Appreciation to you!

Interval entertainment for guests. Posers...

Talk about glamorous shot!

Thanks to Nicholas for the brilliant shot of the cigar box act!
Great colour coordination might I just point out. 

If you didn't get the chance to come along to the act never fear! We will be out and about more as the weather gets drier and warms up. If you around Palmerston North don't be nervous, flick us an email and pop on down to one of our club nights to get a better insight into our crazy antics!

Gotta Crack that Whip!

Semester two has started for those of us in New Zealand studying at University.
It has also meant a chance to invite new members to join our Club and try not to scare them off with our crazy antics.
That being said if you need some motivation to get on top of your study, come on down to Club so we can "crack that whip."
Ben our resident whip cracker, does a cracking good job! As seen on Tuesday night! I took a small video to share with you all! No need for a motivational speech, just take a few seconds to watch the clip......

I have also had some short clips taken of hooping, attempting new moves and just having a generally good jam at Club check it out below! 

I you have any requests for us to video anyone or any toy make a comment and we will try get onto it. 

We have two big events coming up, performing for a Ball/Formal dance as well as an on stage performance Unity in Diversity this month! So watch this space for updates. 

Belly dance anyone?

Saturday night was the 10th Mid Winter Hafla! 

As a Club we were invited to perform for the Mid Winter Hafla outside the theater as the public arrived for the evening event. We had the great pleasure of burning to the Manawataki Drummers and even had a small wooden stage to use.

I must admit to getting out the palm candles and have a shameless dance to the African rhythms.
Following our entrance burn the night went off with a range of stage performances of various belly dancing techniques and skills with fabulous costuming (Lots of sparkle) and music.
So as I was the one taking the bad quality photos you miss out on my face (Yay you all say) but here are a few of those photos to peer at. Enjoy!

Rope Dart anyone?

Manawataki Drummers creating some beats for us and the public to jam to.

Burn baby Burn! All the fire and skill.

And of course you cannot get through a good evening of burning without some soot!

Treat time!

EXAMS are OVER!! 

As a Club a lot of our members are University students last week it was time to celebrate the ending of exams. What better way to do that then go out for desert and socialise, get noses out of books and have a laugh!

Jealous much?? 

Im not so sure about this.....

Coffee coffee coffee.