| DaBomb performing with fire hoop |
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| made by www.hoopnotichoopdance.com |
September 2005
My playa name is DaBomb, and I've been a burner since
1998. Through the years, I've volunteered a great deal behind the scenes at Burning Man, a community I'm actively involved
in both on and off the playa. For 2005 I came to the playa with a new dream: to perform as a fire dancer on burn night. In
spring of 2005, I joined the Los Angeles Fire Conclave (LAFC) in pursuit of this dream.
My fire tool is the fire hoop. In order to participate in this year's burn as a fire performer, myself and 3 other fire hoopers
were required to include fire torches in our repertoire. To that end, we were also required by our squad leader to purchase
our torches specifically from Bearclaw Manufacturing. Though there was some dissent from others within the squad as to this
requirement, the squad leader insisted that he wanted uniformity within the performances and wanted all tools to look the
same.
These seemed like small requirements for such an exciting occasion, and so I overlooked them at the time. All summer I regularly
attended the practice meetings on Wednesday night with the rest of my squad. The enthusiasm and camaraderie of the LAFC increased
with each passing week as the Burning Man Festival grew closer. I also diligently practiced on my own during my free time.
As a member of the LAFC, strong skills in your chosen fire tool and fire safety training were required and I didn't want to
be cut. Sadly, as the summer wore on, some performers were dropped or left the conclave because they were unable to meet these
conditions.
On Wednesday, August 17th, 2005 with only two weeks to go before Burning Man, TedWard LeCouteur, the shin of the LAFC, announced
during a practice meeting that Todd Schindler of the Discovery Crew was present at that evening's fire practice. TedWard further
announced that the Discovery Crew would embed with the LAFC during this year's burn. TedWard also happens to be the owner
of Bearclaw Manufacturing.
TedWard's announcement disturbed me and I took issue with it. I wanted to know who, on behalf of LAFC, invited the Discovery
Crew and why. I also wanted to know why as a performance troupe, this invitation was not extended by a democratic vote. It
was reprehensible to me that the Discovery Crew was granted special privileges with regards to performing inside the circle
before the Man burns with the LAFC. I strongly believe that all fire performers desiring to perform with our conclave be made
to adhere to the same rules and strict standards as all other members of LAFC. Specifically this person should have attended
all mandatory meetings for LAFC and that this person should be competent with their tools. For a fact, the Discovery Team's
host did not attend LAFC's mandatory meetings that summer. Todd Schindler was merely a researcher for the show, and not the
host himself. Therefore, the skill level of the show's host was unknown.
My concerns sparked a heated debate between TedWard and myself. See below for the link to this discussion.
LAFC Burn Club Discussion on Tribe.net
Finally, a response to my issues with the Discovery Team's involvement with
LAFC came in the form of these words from Maid Marian:
"re: the LA Fire Conclave. A member of the conclave INVITED the Discovery folks there. So, I'd look to that person
and his/her desire for personal exposure before you point to us or Discovery for their uninvited intrusion."
This information was very illuminating, however I have not had the opportunity to discuss this with TedWard, so I do not know
if it was indeed him that invited the Discovery Team to participate with the LAFC. As it turned out, much to my relief, they
did not participate in our performance at Burning Man this year.
Love & Rockets,
DaBomb
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