IT by Michael Christian towers over the 2007 Fire Arts Festival Photo by TheBlight.net

The Crucible’s 7th Fire Arts Festival, a spectacular open-air exhibition of fire performance, fire sculpture, and interactive fire art, once again set West Oakland ablaze and transformed the vacant lot at Kirkham St. and 7th St. into a Fire Arts Arena with a four-day run in July 2007.

Designed & Produced by Michael Sturtz of The Crucible, the annual celebration of fire and light is a fundraising event that features an amazing cast of dancers and performers reflecting the diversity of the Bay Area’s arts community -- from classically trained ballet dancers to hip-hop artists, musicians, outrageous fire artists and performers, and The Crucible’s own faculty of blacksmiths, metal casters, and glassworkers.

The festival showcases kinetic and fire art pieces, with over 30 installation artists contributing to the event’s success.  Many of the kinetic fire sculptures, like the 168-foot long “Serpent Mother,” created by the arts collective, The Flaming Lotus Girls, encouraged hands-on participation like controlling propane jets. Another interactive display, Dance Dance Immolation, challenged participants to match on-screen dance steps – with the penalty for a misstep being a blast of fire to the face (fortunately dancers are suited up in Nomex firefighter suits prior to testing their skills).

The Serpent Mother and Aeolus Photo by Eric Gillet

Kinetic Steam Works Photo by Jim Maurer

Ever raising the bar for “flameboyance,” this year Sturtz added something new: The Fire Odyssey, an 11-act modernized interpretation of Homer’s epic poem, performed each night of the Festival. Blending industrial fire theatre with ballet, opera, hip hop, aerial dance, fire performance and more, The Fire Odyssey brings together an amazing cast of internationally recognized dancers and performers to create one of the most technically ambitious and visually stunning productions seen in the Bay Area.

The Fire Odyssey Opera singer Aimee Puentes sings the role of Penelope, and Easton Smith, who played Romeo in The Crucible’s production of Romeo & Juliet—A Fire Ballet, returns as Odysseus. Mongolian contortionist Byamba Serchmaa plays Circe, who tries to seduce Odysseus; members of the renowned hip-hop troupe Flavor Group play Odysseus’ men. The acrobatic team of Realis, made up of gold medalists and world champion gymnasts Shenea Booth and Arthur Davis, performs the production’s amazing finale, with original live music provided by Mark Growden and a hand-picked ensemble. More info >> Artist and Performers - Bios & links >>

Aimee Puentes as Penelope Photo by Eric Gillet Easton Smith as Odysseus Photo by Eric Gillet Serchmaa Byamba Photo by Eric Gillet Tommy Ly from Flavor Group Photo by Eric Gillet Realis Photo by Karie Henderson The band (Mark Growden, Robin Coomer, Evan Fraser, Scott Sterling and Seth Ford-Young) Photo by Eric Gillet

Other links

Schedule, map & program
Event press
past festival photos
video preview
festival sponsors
press release