Siva Afi: The Fireknife Dance of Samoa

For centuries, Samoan warriors have spun and tossed their weapons in dazzling demonstrations of courage and skill. The traditional wooden war clubs were later replaced with hooked steel machetes. In 1946, a young knife dancer, “Freddie” Letuli, was performing in San Francisco at an event that also featured a Hindu fire eater and a girl who twirled a baton with light bulbs on the ends. Letuli wrapped some towels around the ends of his knife, dipped them in fuel, set them alight, and invented fireknife dancing. The fireknife dance (siva afi) is now a major feature of Samoan culture and the pinnacle of any luau. In this game, 2-6 players are fireknife dancers. The game alternates between a practicing phase (where players improve their hands) and a performing phase (where players dance by playing cards). In each dance, the best performer earns points. The first player to score a certain number of points wins the game. This reimplementation of Fireknife! was developed and tested with the help of professional fireknife dancers. All card text is bilingual (Samoan and English). The cards feature gorgeous art by Samoan artist Troy Safotu. —description from the designer