Her name is Byrne – Rosalia Moon Byrne. Her body bends and weaves, gliding between fiery beams of yellow, orange, and red. As her far-reaching braids whip through the air and white French-fry-scented smoke streams through the night, the music thumps louder and squeals of celebration gather momentum.

“Other people say they are a fire dancer,” she says. “I dance with fire.”

Born in Salinas and raised on the south coast of Big Sur in a community populated with percussion – her parents and their friends were never far from a drum – Byrne recalls going to a local harvest fair and twirling her body amongst a drum circle at age 5. At 23 she saw her first fire dance and decided flame would become her medium.

Now 31, she’s evolved into a unique dancer and a fixture at Big Sur celebrations. She is decisive about what she wants to accomplish with each appearance. “When I saddle up and get the fire going, people are watching,” she says. “I take them on a journey. There is no point that I falter. I honor that fire.

“I build the energy and something happens. I start channeling a very strong aesthetic rhythm.”

Byrne’s unique talents have taken her to unique places. Wineries like Napa Valley’s Chappellet have enlisted her to spark private parties. This summer, she performed in a marble courtyard overlooking the Eiffel Tower, in the streets of Barcelona and in an old farmhouse in Costa Brava, Spain.

Byrne’s favorite place to play, however, is her hometown, where she works as a certified wine professional at Nepenthe and lives with her fianceé, who, appropriately enough, is a Big Sur firefighter. She particularly likes being able to reciprocate the energy she receives from local crowds.

“There is no place like home,” she says. “My dance is a gift from the community and there’s nothing like giving it back.”

She performs locally with a troupe called “The Fire Within” and will dance as part of Sunday’s Big Sur Powerdown Festival, which also features compost tea demos, a talk with a local permaculturalist, and live music.

With all her performances, Byrne uses biodiesel fuel, a rare practice among firedancers, as it requires a special pump and the hassle of finding a supplier. The slow-burning lamp-fuel substitute allows her to extend her dance as long as eight minutes, while other dancers usually extinguish their acts after about four. The more fire in her life, Byrne reasons, the better. 

ROSALIA BYRNE PERFORMS AT THE BIG SUR POWERDOWN FESTIVAL, WHICH RUNS 2-9PM ON SUNDAY, OCT. 14, AT BIG SUR SPIRIT GARDEN, HIGHWAY 1, BIG SUR. $10/SUGGESTED DONATION. 667-2710 OR BIGSURPOWERDOWN.ORG.