Chapter 1. Introduction to the Match Ballerinas Circus. During one of my trips around the world, I discovered something magical, unexpected, and largely unknown—something that has conquered my heart and that I won’t ever be able to forget. I’m speaking about the Match Circus, with its incredible artists, the Match Ballerinas, which I believe to be an authentic miracle of nature. That’s why I spent many years putting together this rare documentation about those tiny and remarkable artists, the greatest of all time. I believe this is something worth telling. This is one of those stories that can change the world.
Match Ballerinas are a rare example of a human craft that comes alive through the nobility of the vocation. Match Ballerinas are born as matches and die as artists, and no scientist in the world will ever explain how this can happen. Some believe that what blows life into these tiny wooden creatures is essentially magic. But I believe there’s something more to it. I believe it is love—the love for art.
Match Ballerinas are divided into two main categories: "Match Ballerinas by Foot," and "Match Ballerinas by Head." Match Ballerinas by Foot are the most common, and have sulfur on their feet. Their performances consist of lifting one leg after lighting it on the matchbox. As her foot is on fire, the Match Ballerina by Foot raises her leg up to the maximum elevation, which varies according to the standards of the circus she belongs to.
Soon after, the Match Ballerina executes a series of pirouettes, while her leg is relentlessly consumed by fire. When her leg has completely burned, the performance has concluded. The Match Ballerina can now curtsey to the audience, while standing on one leg. At that point the score has been recorded and any records established.
A Match Ballerina by Foot performs a show that generally lasts about five seconds. The unchallenged record was established by Russian artist Svetlana Stickalova, who scored five and seventeen one-hundredths of a second on the occasion of the major show in Saint Petersburg Square in Moscow, back in May 1970. Her burnt leg is preserved inside a crystal cabinet at the National Match Circus Museum in Moscow. Every year Svetlana’s leg attracts thousands of fans, who consider her performance "a big, burned step along the sparkling path of circus stars."
A path that leads towards the eternal glory. It is remarkable how the idea of sacrifice is the leitmotif of the repertoire of those minuscule artists. Minuscule, yes, but with big hearts indeed, as they give their life to the audience with no second thoughts.
Match Ballerinas by Head have sulfur on their heads, they are stronger than any Match Ballerina by Foot, and generally burn much slower. A Match Ballerina by Head begins her show as she walks on tiptoes down a narrow trail made of sandpaper, hung up at a height of six feet from the floor. As the artist walks to the midpoint, she bends her chest down and scratches her head on the sandpaper in order to ignite it. As the ballerina’s head burns, she performs her dance steps on the trail and reaches up to the safety edge, where a bucket of water is available in case of emergency.
In order to survive her performance, a Match Ballerina by Head should be fast enough to finish her show before her head has completely burned. Unfortunately, no Match Ballerina has ever put her head into the emergency bucket. Many Ballerinas by Head are not even able to complete a performance, since their heads are irreparably burned before they can even put one foot on the safety edge. It’s a matter of fact that a Match Ballerina by Head has a slim chance of surviving her performance. One case only has been reported by the Match Circus International Archive. I’m speaking about the Asian artist Kim Match Lee, aka "The Flame of Taiwan," who in 1975 scored only three-and-a-half seconds as she walked the whole trail up to the safety edge and immersed her head in the emergency bucket before it was completely burned. Nowadays she is a living legend. But after the show she could not bear to be seen with her burned look, so she retired to the solitude of a Tibetan monastery.
A Match Ballerina by Head can be jeopardized even before her performance, for it’s not easy to scratch a head on the matchbox without breaking a neck. A Match Ballerina that breaks her neck before the show won’t ever be able to perform on stage again. It is a career spent with no glory. In this regard, the life of a Match Ballerina by Head is short and unfair. The only alternatives are either a post-mortem kind of glory, or years of training that lead to no performance.
Chapter 2. How a Regular Match Transforms into a Match Ballerina. Match Ballerinas start training when they are very young. Senior Match Ballerinas open thousands of matchboxes and look patiently for the few that can dance. Those typically are matches with slender figures who at the same time are strong. Once this preliminary selection has been made, the selected matches are aligned in a row. At this point, circus music is played, and this is when the miracle happens. Among hundreds of matches, few stand up and start dancing to the rhythm of the music.
Those matches are the ones who aspire to become performing artists. They are matches no more, though, since they have been turned into Match Ballerinas. They will be trained under the hard discipline of the match circus for as many as eight years before being deemed ready to perform on stage.
Two brilliant examples of those low-class matches were Ariana Whipped-Cream-Wood and Josephine Ash. Both of them possessed distinctive personalities despite their humble origins, and scored as well as the most remarkable Match Ballerinas by Head.
Match Ballerinas by Head belong to the elite, as they are usually selected from the most luxurious matches. I’m referring to the prestigious "Maduro Blue Box," the limited edition "Gran Habano Supreme," and the elegant "Winston Churchill Strong."
A peculiar case is the Hilton Match Ballerinas by Foot. They have an elegant and fresh look, with their white feet and blue legs, and their appearance is decidedly classy. Most noticeably, they generate beautiful flames with blue nuances, and they can raise a leg up to the challenging width of 160 degrees. Unfortunately, they are a sham, because they aren’t made of wood, but rather of cardboard, so they burn out very quickly. What a waste of talent!
Another similar case is the Match Ballerinas by Head "Flame Pro Fonseca." They are matches for barbecue, so they are incredibly tall and are particularly resistant to fire. Their heads are also larger in comparison to the regular Match Ballerinas by Head. The Flame Pro Fonseca ballerinas burn slowly and their performances can score pretty well. But because of their humble origins they display rough personalities that prevent them from accomplishing the brilliant careers they are meant for. The majority of Match Ballerinas Fonseca can’t even complete their training. They become bored to death, so they usually go back to their wild life in the countryside.
Match Ballerinas by Head from the upper class are usually recruited in luxury cigar stores. The "Ashton Virgin Deluxe" are the most popular due to their remarkable beauty and edgy attitudes. They are aloof and sophisticated matches that are meant to spend their lives as store items and being pampered among many comforts. It’s quite hard to convince such pretentious creatures to adopt the hard life of the match circus. Match trainers are dramatically aware that about 60% of their Ashton Virgin disciples won’t tabaccheria (tobacco store) in Genoa, Northern Italy. But she just couldn’t live with the physical and psychological stress generated by the rigorously demanding training she was forced to endure. Helena attempted to escape from the Sevenflames Match Circus more than once, and eventually drove her coach, Edward Sevenflames IV, towards genuine desperation.
even come close to completing their training. Several cases have been reported of Ashton Virgin trainees who attempted to run away from the circus during the training period. Among those, the tragic case of Helena Lovely-Head is the most emblematic.
The gorgeous Helena was recruited in 1948 at a
Edward Fatte non fummo a viver come braci, ma a servir pipe e sigarette audaci (We Ashton Virgins were meant not to die as mere barbecue ash, but by the side of a brave cigar).
managed in the end to convince Helena to perform on the occasion of the annual Grand Match Circus Show in De Ferrari Square in Genoa in 1952. But tragically, the match circus archives report no performance on that occasion, as Helena was found dead in her changing room, burned alive just a few minutes before taking the stage.
Anxious about her performance, Helena had scratched her head on the matchbox before approaching the stage. She left a note:
After this tragedy, Edmund Sevenflames VI was haunted by unbearable guilt. He retired early and became an alcoholic, and eventually no one ever heard from him anymore. Like
him, many other match trainers retired in solitude, some victims of a kind of depression dubbed "stage melancholy." Others merely retreated to the comforts of alcohol.
In conclusion, the life at the match circus is extremely hard for both performers and trainers. This is what being an artist really means: Sacrifice and solitude.
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