The Night Before …
And then there was fire! The night before the Camb 800 show, we all headed down by the river for a full runthrough with music, fire and frantic dipping backstage under the watchful eyes of our benevolent stage manager. I took the video above in full on grainy phoneovision during the last finale as it was the only time I didn't have my hands full of toys, dip jugs or a lighter.
This is the first chance I had to see the synchronised routines with fire; and they were absolutely stunning.
It was also the fire troupe debut of Aran's scary-ass S Staffs, which look absolutely beautiful but burn with the fire of a thousand suns.
And the amusing spectacle of dippers stood around holding burning toys ready to hand to performers while trying not to start spinning 
.
We were witness for the first time to the alarming spectacle of flaming ribbon fans (those things are a tad scary!)
Was also lucky to see some awe inspiring things done with burning hoops by the troup's pair of fire hoop acrobats, who just leave me wide eyed every time I see them perform.
This rehersal was the start of an incredibly fun weekend and the most dramatic performance of any kind I've ever been a part of. I'm looking forward to many more chances to do this, both dipping and spinning.
