DREAM STATE CIRCUS: PLAYING WITH FIRE

This is my second post chronicling our visit to Buskerfest here in Toronto. I wanted to do a separate post focusing on our favorite act of the festival, and one of the best acts we've seen at any of the Buskerfests.

Jason and Sophie McGrath are a married couple from Austrlia. They are not jugglers, thank god. But they do play with fire in a remarkable, entrancing, sensual way; individually and together, just as most couples do things. In my previous post about the Buskerfest I bemoaned the fact that too many of the acts, particularly the jugglers, used patter to cover up the fact that their acts were not particularly original. No fear of that here. This couple has patter, but it's quite cute, the kind of He says something outrageous She says "Jason!" in a way most couples would recognize. But trust me, Dream State Circus is about a lot more than just patter.

They started off the show with some warm ups. Not only are these two a pretty pair, they have some pretty impressive athletic gifts. Including a bit where Jason lifts Sophie up over his head and holds her there for 20 seconds. I don't think Sophie cracks 100 pounds, mind you, but it's still pretty impressive.

After the warm ups, each member of the couple did an individual fire dance. Sophie begins, using a pair of chains with a ball of fire on the end of each one. I love her focus, the mental connection to the physical, as she readied herself for her performance, you could see her body change, marshaling her energy in preparation

From this sort of Zen like state, Sophie quickly exploded into a whirlwind of beautifully controlled energy, her body moving to the music, the fire flipping around her, creating entrancing patterns in the air.

Fire is heat and heat is often associated with sensuality and if you ever had any doubt about that, watch the video at the bottom of this post.

After Sophie's first performance, it was Jason's turn. He used a pair of long batons, ablaze on each end, whirling them around with a casual grace that made it look way too easy.

At one point, during Sophie's performance, Jason joined her, and demonstrated that he may have skin made out of asbestos, as he ran the fire up his bare arms

After Jason's solo, Sophie came back out and used a hula hoop in a very original manner.

It wasn't just that the hoop was on fire, it was Sophie's remarkable body control, easily flipping the hoop from feet, to torso, to around her neck

After this dance, the couple teamed up and each used a pair of flaming flaming brands in a high energy dance.

At the end of this dance, Jacob proved he is a real Australian by bringing out his bullwhip. Of course, this is no normal whip. It's made out of Kevlar, so he can set it on fire.

He set the whip on fire and popped it, sending these big fireballs into the air. In the video, you can hear the loud crack as the whip breaks the sound barrier.

After the whip display, Jason and Sophie went into their final routine. Setting up a ring of fire, the pair went through a series of acrobatic poses that were quite breathtaking.

As is traditional in these kinds of displays, it was a lot of Jason holding and posing Sophie. They looked beautiful. Clean lines, steadiness, perfect balance. But there was also a move where Sophie was supporting Jason in an impressive display of feminine strength.

What makes this fire dancing so sexy? I mean, beyond the two beautiful people? Is it the lambent reflection of the fire rippling over the exposed, sweating flesh? Is it the heat that you feel on your own skin as the torches pass by you, the smell of the gasoline, the sound of the fire itself? Is it the concentration of the performers, when you see them caught up in the moment, losing themselves in the music and the movement and the energy of the crowd.

Whatever it is, it works. And Dream State Circus certainly works.

The video below is a long one, but I wanted to capture the entire performance. As the sky got darker, of course, the effect of the fire became more dramatic. Dream State also performed as part of Buskerfest's closing gala; we attended that as well and I shot some video, it may make an appearance in a future post, but enjoy what was, for Collette and I, the performance of the festival.

Dream State Circus from Victor Kellar on Vimeo.