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World traveler shares fire dance
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| AP Emily Brumsted dances with fire on the roof of a parking structure in Jackson, Wyo., on Nov. 20. While some people bring home souvenirs from their travels, Brumsted has brought fire dancing to her hometown. |
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JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — Emily Brumsted shimmies bent-kneed as she twirls chains with balls of fire on their ends.
The flames roar and hiss as they loop around her in the cold air. She slowly turns as sunset fades over Jackson and, it seems, the only thing brighter than the burning white gas is her smile.
“It is almost like I have to dance with fire,” she said.
While some people bring home souvenirs from their travels, Brumsted has brought fire dancing to her hometown. The Jackson Hole High School graduate first saw the art while on a beach in Thailand and learned the techniques while living in a jungle hut in Maui.
She then taught 15 women a beginning fire-dancing class through Dancers’ Workshop, and in January she will offer the beginning class and an intermediate class.
The 26-year-old, who has serious wanderlust and recently returned from Spain, has decided to encourage fire twirling in Jackson.
“I came back motivated to find a community of fire dancers,” she said. “So far, it seems to be working. There’s a lot of interest.”
Brumsted remembers the first time she twirled flames.
“I remember being blinded by the fire,” she said. “You are all of a sudden surrounded by flame.”
Is it something you can do with a partner, like other forms of dancing?
“You can get people dancing with fire close together, but it takes a lot of trust and patience,” she said.
The University of Oregon geography major works as a reading specialist at Colter Elementary School, where her sister, Melissa Brumsted, is the librarian. She plans to remain in the Jackson Hole valley through the end of the school year. At some point, she will return to traveling.
She enjoys helping youths, some of whom are learning English.
“They make me laugh,” she said. “It’s fun. I’m enjoying it a lot.”
Brumsted, who was born in New York but grew up in Jackson, learned to love travel at an early age. At 13, she ventured with a friend and the friend’s family to places such as Hawaii, Mexico and the Bahamas.
“I never lost that desire to see what’s out there,” she said.
In high school, her extracurricular activities focused on soccer, cross-country skiing and running. The small valley with what some see as limited opportunities for social interaction did not inhibit Brumsted, she said.
“Growing up in Jackson has been amazing,” she said. “I’ve always been adventurous. I think Jackson is a very supportive place for that.”
Brumsted also credits her parents, educators Alan and Nancy Brumsted, for encouraging learning and creativity.
“I think my family has been huge — and supportive of me,” she said.
Her travels have taken her to Peru, where she taught English in Cuzco. She is the kind of individual who shrugs off U.S. State Department warnings, as exampled by her travels to Nepal after the royal family there was gunned down.
Her travel took her to Spain, where she visited Barcelona, the southern regions of the country and Morocco. Ultimately, she was drawn to Grenada, home to the Alhambra, and a mountain town.
Although she travels, she doesn’t spend her time simply wandering. She goes to one place for several months.
“I enjoy seeing different cultures, their music, their art,” she said.
Having enjoyed the freedom of traveling as a youth without commitments to a career or family, she has noticed a shift in her attitude, although she wants to continue to enjoy the road.
“I’d like to find a more sustainable way to do it,” she said.
She might delve further into teaching English, but she may take another course. She wants to see where her hobbies will take her.
She never guessed she would make money teaching fire dancing. Now, she wants to learn how to belly dance — something that might incorporate flames.
She will continue to learn because if she is not learning she feels “stagnant and unhappy.”
Most likely, she will not remain stagnant.
“I can always wander,” she said.
The flames roar and hiss as they loop around her in the cold air. She slowly turns as sunset fades over Jackson and, it seems, the only thing brighter than the burning white gas is her smile.
“It is almost like I have to dance with fire,” she said.
While some people bring home souvenirs from their travels, Brumsted has brought fire dancing to her hometown. The Jackson Hole High School graduate first saw the art while on a beach in Thailand and learned the techniques while living in a jungle hut in Maui.
She then taught 15 women a beginning fire-dancing class through Dancers’ Workshop, and in January she will offer the beginning class and an intermediate class.
The 26-year-old, who has serious wanderlust and recently returned from Spain, has decided to encourage fire twirling in Jackson.
“I came back motivated to find a community of fire dancers,” she said. “So far, it seems to be working. There’s a lot of interest.”
Brumsted remembers the first time she twirled flames.
“I remember being blinded by the fire,” she said. “You are all of a sudden surrounded by flame.”
Is it something you can do with a partner, like other forms of dancing?
“You can get people dancing with fire close together, but it takes a lot of trust and patience,” she said.
The University of Oregon geography major works as a reading specialist at Colter Elementary School, where her sister, Melissa Brumsted, is the librarian. She plans to remain in the Jackson Hole valley through the end of the school year. At some point, she will return to traveling.
She enjoys helping youths, some of whom are learning English.
“They make me laugh,” she said. “It’s fun. I’m enjoying it a lot.”
Brumsted, who was born in New York but grew up in Jackson, learned to love travel at an early age. At 13, she ventured with a friend and the friend’s family to places such as Hawaii, Mexico and the Bahamas.
“I never lost that desire to see what’s out there,” she said.
In high school, her extracurricular activities focused on soccer, cross-country skiing and running. The small valley with what some see as limited opportunities for social interaction did not inhibit Brumsted, she said.
“Growing up in Jackson has been amazing,” she said. “I’ve always been adventurous. I think Jackson is a very supportive place for that.”
Brumsted also credits her parents, educators Alan and Nancy Brumsted, for encouraging learning and creativity.
“I think my family has been huge — and supportive of me,” she said.
Her travels have taken her to Peru, where she taught English in Cuzco. She is the kind of individual who shrugs off U.S. State Department warnings, as exampled by her travels to Nepal after the royal family there was gunned down.
Her travel took her to Spain, where she visited Barcelona, the southern regions of the country and Morocco. Ultimately, she was drawn to Grenada, home to the Alhambra, and a mountain town.
Although she travels, she doesn’t spend her time simply wandering. She goes to one place for several months.
“I enjoy seeing different cultures, their music, their art,” she said.
Having enjoyed the freedom of traveling as a youth without commitments to a career or family, she has noticed a shift in her attitude, although she wants to continue to enjoy the road.
“I’d like to find a more sustainable way to do it,” she said.
She might delve further into teaching English, but she may take another course. She wants to see where her hobbies will take her.
She never guessed she would make money teaching fire dancing. Now, she wants to learn how to belly dance — something that might incorporate flames.
She will continue to learn because if she is not learning she feels “stagnant and unhappy.”
Most likely, she will not remain stagnant.
“I can always wander,” she said.
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