We were lucky to catch up with Wildfire Tina recently and have shared our conversation below.

Wildfire Tina, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

In 2016 I saw an amazing fire performance at Texas Renaissance Festival by a troupe called Solar Rain. I came home inspired and bought myself a pair of fire fans. Over the next year, I signed myself up for belly dance classes at a local studio called Crescent Moon Belly Dance. It wasn’t long until the studio owner invited me to join her professional dance troupe. Miabella saw something in me and believed in me as a dancer. And I knew that something about fire performance and belly dance was calling me. Beckoning me to learn more, to create, and to discover parts of myself that had been stagnant for a long time.

Wildfire Tina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Movement is healing — I discovered this when I became a yoga teacher (RYT 200) in 2016. That training started a chain reaction that rippled through my whole life. I came out a different person and I feel like it broke me open to heal some deep trauma in my life. From there, I discovered dance and fire performance.

Now I’m about 6 years into my dance and flow arts journey, and I have not only accomplished a ton as a performer. I have also discovered creative and beautiful parts of myself. I’ve learned to be more comfortable in my own skin as well as on stage. And I’ve been able to do some transformative healing work through movement, which allows me to express way more emotions than I can with words.

These days my creative mission is to inspire other people to move. I’m in the planning stages of creating a body of work that offers daily movement in a way that is inclusive and accessible.

A little more about my journey — I began belly dancing and fire performing in 2016 and discovered a passion for performance. I trained as a belly dancer at Crescent Moon Belly Dance and performed with the studio’s two dance troupes: The Texas Jewels and The Crescent Jewels. I also danced for a season with Mosaic Dance Company in Santa Fe.

I co-founded a female fire performer collective called FemPyre in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in 2017. During my time with FemPyre, I helped establish the first legal open fire performance circle in Fort Worth called Fort Worth Fire Beats. I continued to produce Fort Worth Fire Beats after it became it’s own organization in 2019 with me at the helm. The event has grown into a beautiful performing arts project that brings together artists of all kinds in an inclusive, supportive community. And now I help from behind the scenes and my dear friend Daisy Pardo of Daisys One World is at the helm.

In the fall of 2018, I performed with PyroTex Fire Conclave at Burning Man — a world renowned arts, music, and culture festival that draws 70,000 people to the Nevada desert every year. Only a few select fire performance teams make the cut and perform in the Great Circle each year before the iconic Burning Man effigy is burned down. The following year, I performed with and served as co-shin (aka assistant director) to Aruna Fire at Burning Man 2019.

I recently moved from Texas to New Mexico to get a fresh start. The pandemic shifted many things for me and when everything paused for a while, I realized I needed a change. I went back to my roots as a small town farm girl and I moved to the mountains of New Mexico. I live on a beautiful secluded homestead here, and I got remarried. And at 34, I decided I wanted to have kids after all. I had a baby about 9 months ago! Life is chaotic and beautiful. It’s also challenging and strange.

Through it all, movement has been the uniting force in my life. It’s brought me healing, opened doors that I never imagined would be open to me, and helped me express myself in a way words never could convey. I can’t wait to see where my journey takes me next. And if you want to follow my journey or connect, find me on social media @wildfiretina and say hello.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Something I had to unlearn in my journey is self doubt. I am my worst critic! Many of us are. I also grew up biracial in a small town, which meant a lot of bullying and racism. As an adult I’ve had to unlearn the things society has put on me, as a person of color… as a woman… as a dancer who didn’t start dancing until she was 28. Once I let go of what I thought others wanted of me, I could hold on to what I wanted of me. And I could feel more inside my own body. Movement really helped me do that.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I want to build communities. I truly believe we are stronger when we work together. The times in my life when I’ve had a strong community to support me have made a huge difference for me. I want to share that love and support with others. You don’t have to do everything alone. Plus, there is something truly powerful and awe inspiring about the joy that comes from being deeply connected to other people and feeling like you belong.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.WildfireTina.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildfiretina/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/wildfiretina
• Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/c/wildfiretina
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@wildfiretina

Image Credits
Barry Jackson (@barryjphoto), Sergio Zuniga (@sdotzphotography), Jaz Levario (@moxieboudoir), J Price Photography (@jpphotography)