Lolita Wolf's Predictions & Predilections

On Thursday night at Leather Retreat, Momma Bear (aka Sharrin Spector) invited me to participate in a ball dance by the bonfire. We gathered on the porch after the Cigars & Chocolates gathering and then headed down to the fire pit.

Every night at camp, the fire pit has two fires. One is a smaller more intimate fire which is most useful for toasting marshmallows for s’mores. The other fire is huge and very hot so you can’t get too close. On Thursday night, there were a lot of people down at the fire pit. There were drummers drumming. Some people danced naked around the fire and some danced dressed as tribal belly dancers. Others were spinning fire poi. One person had a kevlar bullwhip which, after he soaked it with gas and lit it, he cracked it. (Wow, I wanna try that.) One of the belly dancers had fire fans that were really beautiful. Other people sat on benches and watched.

Momma Bear set up her kit on the picnic table. She sutured bells onto five of us, including herself. I picked 6 big bells, a combo of gold and purple bells. Two were sewed onto my chest, two on my back and one on each arm.

A ball dance is a ritual where fruits (like lemons or limes), weights and/or bells are sewn on and people dance and feel the weights bounce. At first the dancers move tentatively, but as the endorphins kick in, they can dance more actively until they lose the adornments. The first time I saw a ball dance, it was part of a performance piece by the artist, Ron Athey, and I was fascinated. Since then I have participated several times.

It was so liberating to dance by the big bonfire, under the stars, and surrounded by people who were important to me. I loved the sounds of the bells and the drumming. It was a magical experience.