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In Juneau, Alaska, a park that was once “the pit” where a fire had destroyed a building years ago, is now hosting whirling flames of a different kind, courtesy of the newly formed Moon Spinners. Temple Joanna, Amah Curry, Kartikasari Klasresta and others are turning up the heat. “I’ve always loved playing with fire,” Curry said, “and this is a way to do that… A couple years ago, my friend Susan and I would hoop. We’d do it after the kids would go to bed. We’d stay up and just hoop around in her living room and we got to be really good at it. That’s when I realized I could actually hoop with fire — that I had the skill set to sort of branch off from just normal hooping.” Today these dedicated hoopers carry their hoops with them wherever they go. Curry and Joanna both told the Juneau Empire about having hoops and kerosene and lighters or torches in their car, and the soot that smudges cars and walls and doorways from transporting the hoops and materials as well. “My car right now looks like a huge atomic bomb because it’s full of kerosene and torches and wicks. It’s funny how dangerous my car looks right now.” Temple Joanna explained.

At the start of the event, Joanna and Curry could be seen setting out hoops of different sizes and different types. Regular hoops, big hoops, small hoops, LED lit hoops and hoops with wicks screwed in at intervals. Mason jars full of clear kerosene were set on the ground and the wicks were dipped in the kerosene until saturated. A crowd had started to gather. Some people had known about the event in advance, others were likely intrigued by the young women in body-hugging clothing passing around hula hoops and a blowtorch. Joanna and Curry began their performance with a brief synchronized set, but Klasresta would be the star of the evening wearing a dramatic mask while lying on her back with the hoop spinning around one foot. The Moon Spinners believe part of the allure of fire hooping is the beauty of it, part is the apparent danger. “It seems pretty safe to me,” Curry said, “maybe don’t quote me on that.” And in the afterglow of their first performance, Temple Joanna said, “I’m so proud of my girls.”