Thumbuakar Tribal Group, Borneo

What a delightful and soul satisfying find this has been!!

Gorgeous humans, gorgeous textiles and topping all that – gorgeous performance art!

Bamboo dance, fire dance – in which they dance amidst sticks on fire, and fire-eating and fire-breathing in its original form – a stunning visual treat!

And add to it the beaded loin cloths that are different from anything else I have seen before! (click here to see the wovensouls collection for antique loin cloths from the same region)

A few pictures from my portfolio…..

Next, dancing amidst fire

Next – fire breathing…

The men take a large swig of kerosene in their mouths,

spit out a bit in a shower, light that shower up with a torch they carry,

and then keep that fire burning by taking more swigs and spitting out more kerosene.

Each performer manipulates his own ball of fire.

In a more difficult part of the performance, the whole group gets together to manage a single ball in the centre, and this ball is made to move around, by the individual performers taking turns in fuelling it from different spots……Watching that ball of fire move along the line of men is quite amazing – it’s almost as if the fire is a creature and is moving from one person to another.

The best set of pro quality images  are on display  at jainamishra.com

jm