Burning Ballroom
The idea for the Burning Ballroom is based on fiddling while Rome burns.
Kit
Banners
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Used to create the boundaries of the ballroom and carry messaging.
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4 verticals about 2m high with vivid flames painted on. These were placed diagonally at each corner, pointing outward. They were held by one person- a kind of sentinel - by means of a lightweight bar across the top, with a short vertical bar coming off it to form a “T” shape, which made it easy to hold. (see video)
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4 short horizontals that were located half way between the the vertical corners to imply the walls. They have flames as background and carry the messaging. We had two saying “And while the world burns…….”, and the other two were “ Stop funding fossil fuels”, but these can be changed as required. It works best if each of these banners is just held by one person,(two gets more in the way of the image), seated on the ground. These banners should be the length of outstretched arms with a horizontal pocket (like an oven glove) in each of the top corners, and maybe a loop like an apron strap in the middle of the top.
Patches - to pin on the dancers’ backs.
Roles - Politician, Police Chief, Media Mogul, Financier, Bureaucrat, Judge, Fossil Fuel Exec. Lobbyist.
Masks-
We used very simple ones, made out of thin white card, bit larger than face shaped, just with eye holes and nose flaps, and a bit of elastic stapled on. The main things seem to be that they’re all the same and blank.
Sound
You’ll need some kind of portable amp/ sound system, and the right leads/ adaptors to connect it to a phone output. It does need to be pretty loud to have impact outdoors.
Outreach
The Burning Ballroom makes a very good vehicle for outreach conversations, so have people- including the dancers- ready for engaging.
Briefing participants
Use the Ballroom Users Manual to brief participants.