The Abridged version:
- A local theatrical performance invites the audience to participate in the show.
- “Fire Breathing in the Wild” returns to the Black Box Theater in West Sacramento at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15.
- Producer and performer Natachi Mez hopes the show allows “people to breathe, to be more present within their own bodies” and to interact with the space around them.
Seven Sacramento-based Black female artists are the driving force behind “Fire Breathing in the Wild,” a show that encourages the audience to jump, breathe, sing and dance along with performers.
“People come not knowing what they’re going to experience, and they all leave just ecstatic or emotional or crying or just very moved by the experience,” said music director and musician Nicole Gentry.
“Fire Breathing in the Wild” lights up the Black Box Theater in West Sacramento at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15. The show covers themes such as healing, environmental catastrophe and migration.
Producer and performer Natachi Mez, who goes by her stage name Natachi, said she was reflecting on California’s wildfire and climate change when she came up with the concept. While fire is a destructive force, she said it can also be “protective” when considering how indigenous practices use fire to “minimize chances of wildfires.”
Breathing is something people do without thinking, Natachi said, but as an artist she wants to create a place for “people to breathe, to be more present within their own bodies” and to interact with the space around them.
An interactive show
Audiences can expect to play a part in the show. They may be prompted to sing along, dance, jump rope and immerse themselves in guided breathing.
Laura Cook, who goes by the stage name MmaMma Laura, said people can relate on different levels. “Even if they can’t relate to every song, there are songs that speak to them,” she said. “It can be an amazing thing to see yourself for the first time.”
(Courtesy of Kelechi Ohiri)
Artists connect personally to the show
As a Nigerian American, Natachi’s heritage is reflected in the show. The heartbeat of one song uses West African rhythms and incorporates the word “eke” from the Igbo language, she said. “Eke” has different meanings, among them a deep connection to fire.
As a poet and spoken word artist, Natachi said writing is a way to process her emotions and her way of “taking in of the world.”
“It was great to have these pieces I’ve written and to have these ideas and to bring them to a larger collective and have them blossom even more from that,” she said.
MmaMma Laura — percussionist, spoken word artist and Natachi’s poet mentor during high school — was not used to working with a group of musicians so closely before joining “Fire Breathing in the Wild.”
She said the experience has allowed her to get “better and freer” at her craft because her fellow group members push “without being harsh or judgmental.”
“I’m still fearful, but I’m learning to do things even amidst the fear even more,” she said. “And then you find out that not all fire will burn things down. Some fire is really just there to keep you warm or to give you light so that you can see the path.”
The show continues to evolve
The group has been performing “Fire Breathing in the Wild” since 2023 — a project funded by the city of Sacramento’s Seeding Creativity grant. They have refined the show over two years by adding more intricate lighting and the “spirit of improv and jazz.”
Above all, Natachi says that so much life happens in between shows. “People are continuing to grow in their crafts, so it’s only getting richer,” she said.
Tickets are available at Eventbrite.
Shelley Ho is a visual journalist with Abridged.