Not many people wake up each day and decide to twirl flaming balls of gasoline around their bodies. Probably fewer decide to spit flammable liquids at open flames, risking internal and external ignition.But lucky for Baton Rouge, some of those people live here.Inferneaux is the name of a fire performance troupe recently created in Baton Rouge. Utilizing flaming tools such as poi, nun chucks and fans, they blend music and movement to create death-defying performances.”I defy death for your pleasure,” said performer Seaphram Pax.Pax is the resident fire breather. He said because blowing on the fire creates a stream of oxygen from the lungs to the torch, internal combustion is entirely possible. The flammable liquid chosen, the speed of breath and especially the wind direction are all important safety considerations.”One time I was doing a double blow with a friend when he ignited my head, and I had to put the flames out with my hand,” Pax said. “You learn faster by trying.”The troupe hasn’t sustained any serious injuries.”We all have burns; it comes with the territory,” said group director Katie Gromlovits, also known as Pyra. “It goes with the old saying, ‘If you play with fire you’re going to get burned.'”Gromlovits said she got interested in fire twirling from watching other people at festivals. She moved to Baton Rouge a couple of years ago and started taking belly dancing classes at Bayou Shimmy and decided to combine the two.”I can more creatively express myself with the fire,” she said.Wearing traditional belly dancing garb, complete with jingling hips and a rhinestone-studded forehead, Gromlovits danced with fire poi and a large gold lamé wings on Saturday.”It’s really like you almost become part of the fire,” she said. “You kind of just get lost in it.”Gromlovits started out spinning in her backyard, much like the rest of the self-taught performers in Inferneaux. There are a handful of performers with the troupe, each with their own specific style and tool set.Inferneaux has been performing together since March, starting out at private parties. She said they have been booked almost every weekend since then, and last weekend they performed at The Big Top in New Orleans in front of Gov. Bobby Jindal.The troupe will also perform every night at the Greater Baton Rouge State Fair from Oct. 23 to Nov. 2.Gromlovits said the nature of fire has a broad appeal. “I think fire is one of the most dangerous elements, and when people can see us control it, their jaws drop,” Gromlovits said. “Everyone is a pyro at heart.”The most common tool used by Inferneaux is poi, an ancient art of object manipulation originating with the Maori tribe in New Zealand. Women swung the poi in circular patterns to convey stories through choreography. The poi was traditionally made of short rope with a ball attached to the end. Of course, somewhere along the line someone set the balls on fire. Inferneaux uses entirely self-made tools, and their poi are made of gasoline-soaked Kevlar balls attached to small metal chains.Beginners start off with glow poi, or plastic balls with LED lights inside of them.Billie Jones, anthropology sophomore, tried out the glow poi at an Inferneaux performance last weekend.”I absolutely love it,” she said. “It’s control over an uncontrollable substance.”Another spectator at the performance, Alex Mourjanovic, said the last time she saw something like this was at the Ringling Bros. Circus.”It’s mesmerizing, I could watch it forever,” she said. “This is the only thing that happens in Baton Rouge like this ever.”Pax is putting together a side project called Jebidiah Goodstuff’s Pyromaniacal Olde Thyme Traveling Sideshow, based on vaudeville and turn-of-the-century circus acts.He described it as “half vaudeville, half traveling mayhem.”Also incorporating fire performance, Pax plans to add more traditional circus acts like a Strongman and magic tricks. “I’d like to bring a little bit of that old-time magic back,” he said. As he exhibited sleight of hand with a small pocket knife, Pax said people have a basic need to be fooled.He quoted P.T. Barnum, saying “There’s a sucker born every minute.”Pax said he also wanted to try walking on hot coals and glass.”Life is really short,” he said. “You’re either going to be a part of the spectacle or a spectator.”- – – -Contact Lauren Walck at [email protected]