Friday Night Fires Blazes in Downtown Laramie Friday Nights

Story Submitted by Brittitia Shaffer 

On Friday evenings a buzz about fire can be heard around downtown Laramie. No need to call emergency services, the fire is for entertainment. Laramie Entertainers, a local group, hosts "Friday Night Fires" which is a free and public event. Trained performers use various fire equipment and do what is referred to as fire dancing. 

Laramie Entertainers has been around for about 6 years, yet was undeclared until summer of 2011. Now the group is maintained by regular practices and performances, both of which are open to the public. The members of this group have various styles and experience. 

The weekly event, located downtown at 1st street plaza, is a group effort created by several performers. (Brittitia Shaffer, Steven Scheaffer, Christopher Tucker, Joeseph Montoya, Michaela Dennies, and Deanna Kearney,Jon Neu, Marci Clark, Jordan as well as other guest performers.) The entertainers "don't have a head of the group, but try to keep everyone on the same page. [They] also are always looking for anyone who has experience with the equipment or wants to learn." The equipment used is Poi, Staff, Snakes, Double Poi, Hula Hoop, and Meteor. The styles are unique and individual with each piece of equipment. Friday Night Fires is surely a sight to see and is hard to miss downtown on Friday nights. When the sun sets over the hills, the blaze is set to begin at about 8:30 PM and runs until the fuel is out. Fuel used for the shows is Coleman Camping Fuel and is generally bought using tips or rotated through the group on who's buying. "Really what keeps us going is word of mouth. With no advertisement made and no charges for shows, we lack the opportunities to get our name out. Our hopes are for a large scale production. We have a couple guest DJ's that work with our group but haven't been able to perform with us yet due to electrical issues. But, we plan to get those problems squared away and have a full production soon." Any donations are accepted, and will be put into extending the event and equipment resources.
At any time the group my be contacted via the Laramie Entertainers Facebook page. Video clips are available on YouTube.com/LaramieEntertainers. Every Friday the group will be performing in person, and all of the performers are more than happy to discuss the art and event. Swing by, watch the show, dance to some music, and chat with guests and performers. Every Friday at sun down enjoy a new source of light, brought to you by Laramie Entertainers.

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