Micah Naruo
Discipline
Fire-knife dancer
Age
29
From
Honolulu
Likes
Comedy and musicals
It takes an understanding
parent to encourage a
teenage boy’s love of fire.
When Naruo was 13, his own
mum and dad found him a
school in their native Hawaii
where he could indulge his
latent pyromania (without
flames at first). “I’ve always
been attracted to fire, so to
see someone manipulating it
without fear really attracted
me,” he explains.
Scouted by Cirque at 16,
the muscly acrobat only
joined the travelling
Alegría
full-time in 2009. Aside from
performing, he spends 30
minutes on stage rehearsing
with fire each week. His tool
– a Samoan fire knife – has
a blade at one end. Wood is
held on to it with wire and set
alight, which makes the act
as risky as it looks. “It’s a hot
metal blade that’s on fire. If it
hits me... Well, it’s not good.”
The upside? “The fire
saves on haircuts. I don’t
have to worry about going to
the salon as it just burns
away with my act.”
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