FIRE DANCE
The origin of dancing with fire originated in the Polynesian culture. Some people believe the Maori people could have been the first to create this dance. It was not originally a dance; it started as the warrior’s training exercise. The young warriors would use Poi, a ball tied to a string. The balls were heavy and made of flax. They would swing the balls in the air, strengthening their wrist, while the tribe’s people would sit by a fire and tell stories. They would later incorporate their warrior’s dance. Tourism became profitable in the Polynesian areas in the 1950s, and the balls set on fire. The dance became known as the Fire Dance. The Samoan Warriors would also ignite their knives ablaze while performing their Knife Dances. There would be a warm sense of community and love of tradition, as the tribespeople would gather at night by a fire and entertain with stories and dance.
David Black is a native of Gloucester, Massachusetts, who dedicated the Fire Dance sculpture to the city of Fort Myers on March 2, 2012. Black earned his B.A. cum laude from Wesleyan University and his M.A. from Indiana University. Black was a professor emeritus in art, at Ohio State for 30 years. He received many awards and prizes throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan for his many sculptors.
The sculptor is bright red, made of 24 aluminum plates which were 28 feet long and 10 feet wide, and 1 inch thick. The Fire Dance is Dupont red and 25 feet tall. It displays circles and spirals upon circles and spirals. Black calls his public sculpture “proto architecture” because it combines architectural elements with light, energy, and references of sculpture.
Black describes walking through Fort Myer’s Centennial Park for the first time. He stated he and his wife decided to explore Fort Myers as recent transplants. Black recalled it was at night, and the community was in the park enjoying a live jazz band performance. He said the park’s energy and vitality reminded him of fire. Black equates the circles within circles as active, open, airy, and rhythmic like jazz. Black hopes that the Fire Dance will lift each viewer and inspire a sense of community just as he and his wife felt that first night walking through Centennial Park.
I drove to Centennial Park on a Saturday morning, but to my disappointment, the park was undergoing a renovation. The park was closed to the public. As a recent transplant to Fort Myers myself, I had never visited Centennial Park. The park is in the downtown Fort Myers business district and surrounded by old homes. West of the park and the sculpture are the Caloosahatchee River with footpaths, a pier, covered pavilions, and a parking area. The sculpture adds a spark of cheerfulness to this area and the imagination of the viewer. My curiosity for this electrifying image led me to park illegally to get a better view of the artwork. The Fire Dance was an event that brought the tribe’s people/community together to share, enjoy, and celebrate life. I felt the sense of this being a sculpture in a place with people of Fort Myers desiring to share, enjoy, and celebrate life with others. I believe Black’s hope that the Fire Dance would lift each viewer’s spirit and deepen their sense of community while fostering a sense of civic pride has come to fruition.
