Press Release
Release Date: 6/14/07
Contact: Judith Dutton, (417) 332-2772
Jack Burke, (417) 239-1011
Attachments: Picture of Anelu Iakopo
Samoan World Champion
Branson, MO…In the United States, children are quickly introduced to baseball, soccer, football and basketball, as they begin exploring various sporting activities. In Samoa, the emphasis is on cricket, rugby and fire knife dancing.
At a very young age, Anelu Iakopo was mesmerized by the hypnotic and thrilling movements of the fire dancers on his Polynesian island of Samoa. His nightly dreams were filled with vision of fire dances, as he began to practice the art for fire knife dancing in every spare minute. As he entered into his teen years, he was amazing his peers with his mastery of this exotic art. In 2004 at the age of 17, Anelu entered and won the 2004 World Fire Knife Competition for his age category. Anelu was a “World Champion” and returned from the competition to begin entertaining Samoan tourists with his remarkable ability.
Two years later, Belle Dutton, the wife of Jonathan Dutton, visited her native Samoa with the purpose of auditioning and selecting a troupe of Samoan performers for a Polynesian show at the Dutton Theater. Upon seeing Anelu, she quickly picked him out to be one of the performers.
The ironic twist of fate was that this humble young man never mentioned that he was a World Champion Fire Dancer. It wasn’t until after the group arrived in Branson that Belle learned of his accomplishments. As Belle told us, “I knew that Anelu was extremely talented, but I had no idea that he had won a world championship competition. I wasn’t surprised at his accomplishment, but I couldn’t believe he had not been boasting of it.”
Around the Dutton complex, Anelu is affectionately called Andrew by many of the employees and, when he is not on stage, he is quick to lend a hand with anything from driving guests up the hill in a golf cart to helping around the restaurant and hotel.
On stage, alone or joined by the other world class fire dancers in the performances, Anelu is in his element. From twirling the fiery batons while on his back to climbing on the shoulders of the other performers, Anelu constantly draws loud and hearty applause from the audience. When he sets his tongue afire to light the end of a baton, the applause turns to “gasps”.
Although fire knife dancing is a tradition passed down from generation to generation, it is relatively new. Letuli Olo Misilagi was the first to add fire to the traditional Samoan ailao (knife dance) in the mid-1940’s. He devised the idea after seeing a fire-eater and a baton twirler at a Shriners Convention in San Francisco. Today the fire knife dance is a show-stopping staple in Polynesian revues. There are numerous fire knife competitions held throughout the Pacific and the annual World Fire Knife Dance Competition at the Polynesian Cultural Center on the island of Oahu in Hawaii.
The world loves a champion and Branson loves “World Champions”, as evidenced by the enthusiastic audience responses to Anelu and the other fire knife dancers in the Polynesian production of Island Fire. Island Fire will continue through December at the Dutton Theater. For show times, reservations and additional information, contact the Dutton Family Theater at (417) 332-2772 or (888) 388-8661.