CEBU, Philippines - With summer in the offing, workshops for singing, dancing, acting and other activities have already been opened as part of the traditional practices of interested parties.
To break the chain of regular and ordinary workshops, a professional dancer offers in her summer program the art of poi fire dancing.
In her five years of conducting summer workshops, Joy Verula said that it is her first time to offer poi fire dancing since it’s a new thing to venture in and there is only a few number of individuals involved with such dance type.
“If you want something new and you’re not afraid with fire, you can try poi dancing. This dance is very cool since it’s hot,” she stated.
Poi fire dancing is a dance performance involving the manipulation of objects on fire specifically fire pois or fire chains made of a ball of kevral wick on the end of the chain that is swung around the body. Usually twirled in pairs, fire pois create a beautiful; circular fire trail handled by the fire dancer.
Verula added that when it comes to this dance, she aims to teach interested students the basic poi movements initially using poi ribbons or sack pois during practices to ensure their safety. Upon the culmination activity, students who are 15 years old and above can utilize the original poi equipment with fire.
She also said that poi dancing is good for mind coordination and arm strength of the dancer. Since poi dancing requires concentration and discipline, it is offered to teens, boys and girls, from eleven years old and above.
Since it’s her first time to offer such dance in her curriculum, Verula is positive that there will be at least 15 participants and had already accepted seven inquiries before the classes start.
Aside from fire dancing, she offers bellynisian which is a sensual combination of belly dance and polynisian dance for 5 years old and above, and modern dance with a mixture of hiphop and jazz for kids Five years old until eleven years old.
Verula noted that the private workshop intends to build the student’s confidence while gaining more friends in a fun-filled environment of learning.
Classes are designed to widen the students’ knowledge with the dance, its history and origin, step-by-step practices and eventually to come up with their own choreography and interpretations of the dance.
With a total of 15 one-hour Monday to Friday (MWF) sessions, the workshop officially starts on April 16 until May 18 at Camella Fitness Center, Ilang-ilang Street, Phase 1, Camella Homes, Pajac, LapuLapu City. Bellynisian class starts at 9:30 to 10:30 in the morning, followed by the modern dance class which is from 10:30 to 11:30 am. On the other hand, classes for poi dance are scheduled at 4 – 5 in the afternoon.
The workshop fee is P1,500 for bellynisian and modern dance while P1,800 for poi dancing inclusive of the equipment. For inquiries and registration, interested parties can contact Chin Chin at 09224760963. — (FREEMAN)