We had the good fortune of connecting with Dona Georgieva and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dona, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I am originally from Sofia, Bulgaria. I was born there and lived in Libya for two years before moving to the States with my family. A life of travel from an early age showed me how essential and beautiful diversity is. Diversity in the people we surround ourselves with, variety of thoughts and ideas, and of course diverse ways to express ourselves and create awe-inspiring art. I believe this open-minded upbringing inspires me for life to continue striving to make unique art for unique people. As a fire spinner, surprising and delighting my audiences with new tricks, props, and costumes really brings me joy. There are endless ways to make art with our human bodies and adding object and fire manipulation just brings it to another level.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As a fire dancer, my art medium is literally an element that never ceases to amaze me. The variety of my fire show really sets me apart along with my positive go-getter attitude. In any given show, even full-length shows up to an hour, you won’t see me spin the same prop twice. While dragonstaff is my all-time favorite, I also spin fans, hoops, poi, contact staff, double staff, fire umbrella, palm torches, fire eating, rope dart, levitation wand, fire crown, and fire belly dance belt to name a few. I love collaborating and teaching flow arts as well so anytime I have a chance to skill share or inspire, it’s my pleasure to do so. I’m most excited to keep growing and land bigger and better gigs across the nation and beyond! It’s definitely not been an easy journey transitioning to an artist gig-based income. I quit my full-time assistant manager position at Lush Cosmetics last year to full send pursue my life as a performer. To make it as a performer, you have to be confident, take risks, and never stop trying to improve/learn/train. I’m most proud of my ability to keep going and strive for success even if sometimes the path isn’t so clear. I never gave up and my desire for more led me to perform in the world’s largest fire circle at Burning Man 2022! My team and I built a fully choreographed 17-minute routine that debuted right before the big man effigy burned. I love being a freelance performer because it teaches me self-discipline, patience, and business skills. I want the world to know that flow arts is for everyone and anyone at any point in life can get into flowing. It doesn’t matter what you can or cannot do, simply giving ourselves space to move our bodies while engaging our minds is so healing and uplifting. In the flow arts community, we call our flow physical meditation. Just like a runner’s high, entering flow head space is proven to be healing on our brains, bodies, and attitudes. My name is Dona, or Pyro Priestess on stage, and I hope I inspire you to express yourself in new fun ways you hadn’t thought of!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Little Five Points is one of my absolute favorite neighborhoods in the A! Filled with art, interesting people, unique shops, fun bars and yummy restaurants, and one of the best music venues in the city: Aisle 5! I’d recommend hanging out in Little 5 if you love art, community, shopping, and music. In one afternoon, you could buy a fabulous thrifted outfit from Rag-o-Rama, enjoy an amazing Pad Thai burrito at El Myr, and catch an epic live music show at Aisle 5 afterward. In the best month of the year (October, of course) you can also catch the awesome Little 5 Points Halloween parade! Other spots in the city I love and would recommend exploring are Lake Clair Community Land Trust, a lovely sustainability-focused co-op with enlightened people doing amazing permaculture and helping the community by growing and donating food to the needy, Buck’s Sports Barn in Buckhead, an incredible circus training facility which also includes a full-size American Ninja Warrior course now being seasonally turned into a Haunted House and is a great place to have fun and host parties! If you love live music and good vibes, Terminal West is also an incredible venue to check out.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d love to shout out my fire dance troup Hypnotix. We are a team of highly skilled fire dancers right here in Atlanta. We began this troupe out of a shared passion for fire dancing for others and never stopping to level up together. We specialize in fire performance, LED glow performance, aerial performances, and stilt walking. Forever grateful for the community of support and badass performers I get to collaborate with! We are ready to ignite your next party. You can find more about us on IG @xxHypnotixx

Website: pyropriestess.taplink.ws

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pyro.priestess/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PyroPriestessArt

Other: https://artistecard.com/PyroPriestess

Image Credits
Kipp Tarver; Xander Betts; Bad Pineapple Media, Sacred Circles Photography

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