Samantha Dutcher
Chicago’s Strongman Tulga with acrobats Gen Spridco (left) and Fiona Wren.
After a decade, Madison’s favorite winter freakfest is hanging up its leather and pasties, but not without a last bash.
Fire Ball X: Apocalypse, Jan. 27 at the Majestic, is the final installment of an annual alternative circus that’s drawn performers from around the region and the world. Each year, burlesque artists, aerial acrobats and fire and pole performers are greeted by a throng of outlandishly costumed and enthusiastic participants.
The event was created in 2008 by Emily Mills, 36, and Jesse Russell, 41, who began hosting events in Madison to support Dane101.com, a now-defunct local politics and culture site. Armed with Mills’ theater minor from Edgewood and drag performance experience and contacts, the duo co-produced several nerd culture-themed burlesque shows in Madison.
Not long after, Mills and Russell noticed ads for Frostiball, an annual big-ticket soiree to benefit the Overture Center. Their reaction was a plan to host an alternative event to brighten the dark monotony of Wisconsin winter.
“We wanted to make it on the same night [as Frostiball], affordable, and much more catered to the everyday outcast set of freaks and weirdos,” says Mills, who’s now the editor of Our Lives Magazine and the drummer for punk duo Damsel Trash.
By 2012, Fire Ball was selling out and had to change venues from the High Noon to the Majestic to accommodate a larger crowd.
This year’s lineup includes acrobatic duo Mr. Spring and Strongman Tulga; the Femme FATales, a plus-sized burlesque trio; Red Rum, a horror burlesque performer who’s more rotting corpse than sexy zombie; and Jeez Loueez, a Chicago-based performer who hosts the country’s only black burlesque festival.
Internationally touring opera soprano Holly Flack will return. She reached legend status in the early years of Fire Ball by performing “The Diva Dance” from the 1997 sci-fi cult favorite Fifth Element. Sung in the film by a blue humanoid, the song starts as mournful opera piece and shifts midway into a more contemporary electronic sound.
“The place lost its goddamn mind. It turned into a chant of ‘Ho-ly shit! Ho-ly shit!’ Which you’re never going to hear at an opera concert — let’s be real,” says Mills. “I was so happy to be a conduit for that sort of experience for performers.”
Local acts at Fire Ball include bellydance and fire dancers from Vertigo Bellydance and Cycropia Aerial Dance, which once featured a performer on a flaming chain hung from the ceiling of the High Noon.
This type of wild artistic display is simply how the Fire Ball rolls.
“We’ve had to implement some rules over the years that we didn’t think would have to be rules,” says Mills. Regulations include no actual sharp objects on stage, no real blood, no actual animal intestines.
The daring and outrageous performances are amplified by the costumed Fire Ball attendees. Formal wear, cosplay, fetish gear, historical garb and steampunk-inspired outfits are all welcome. Memorable costumes include a group of nuns, a man dressed as a lobster and a woman with a pirate ship on her head.
“The thing that is the common thread among all the people who attend is that they’re there looking for a good time and they’re participating,” says Tamale Sepp, an interdisciplinary artist and comedian from Chicago who’s been the show’s emcee from the beginning. “As performers, we’re like Tinkerbell — the more you clap, the more alive we become.”
“Fire Ball is the Super Bowl,” says Madison-based burlesque dancer and producer Mercury Stardust. Stardust, 30, is the founder of the Wisconsin Burlesque Association and host of a monthly burlesque show at FIVE Nightclub. His several performances at Fire Ball have included doing a chair dance on a toilet while dressed as a plumber. “They [Fire Ball organizers] kind of set the bar for how to treat performers in Wisconsin. As a younger producer learning from their example, I took something from their playbook and started to treat performers like they do.”
Fire Ball performers are paid well, put up at a hotel and provided with professional video and photography, which helps them promote their acts. Fire Ball has also deliberately booked performers of color, and of all sizes and gender identities.
But all good things must come to an end, and the Fire Ball’s co-producers want to go out on a high note. Russell has relocated to California, and Mills plans to return to drag performing. In addition to her job at Our Lives, she recently became the general manager of the Mad Rollin’ Dolls roller derby league and works as a DJ. Winding down the adventure, the co-producers will leave behind the year-round planning, the challenge of finding consistent sponsorship and the lack of funds left over after paying performers.
It’s been a good run, says Mills, who says she’s overheard people planning costumes and knows of people having first dates and proposals at the Fire Ball. “I’m so amused and happy just hearing these stories,” says Mills. “This is a valuable community thing and I want to do right by that.”
Editor's note: This article was updated to include the correct name of one of the local dance troupes performing at Fire Ball. It is Vertigo Bellydance, not Ashar Dance Company.
