About Us
History
Viollca began performing with the Sonic Sidhe Tribe at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival in 2007. Cyricx and Viollca met at one of the Sonic Sidhe Tribe's performances, when Viollca needed a relief fire performer, and Cyricx's nunchucks were up to the task. The Tribe quickly took Cyricx on, and they both performed with the Tribe for 3 more years.
Cyricx and Viollca began the side project “Duile Teine” (The Dancing Flames) in 2009. After about a year of performing under this name, it was clear that the duo was growing and expanding out of the confines of a fire-only moniker.
In 2010, Duile Teine became “Tricks of the Light” to better encompass the variety of performance styles beyond fire that they could do, including Glow (LED) and illusion (contact juggling, buugeng, flow wand, 8-Rings). In 2011, things really took off for the duo, with performances at Lee’s Summit Downtown Days, the Lawrence Busker Festival, and the Macabre Masquerade Ball. It was also the duo's last year with the Tribe.
In 2012, Tricks of the Light took the stage at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival with the debut of their own show, and were tremendously well received, winning "Best New Stage Show" their first year.
The duo grew into a trio in 2013, when Zuri joined the group. Zuri stayed with the group for 3 seasons, before parting ways. During this time, the trio won "Best Stage Show" in 2013 and 2015.
2016 saw the addition of a new performer, Zephyre, and the movement of Cotel from drummer to fire performer, as the group grew to a four-person show, though the focus remains on Cyricx and Viollca as the core. We won "Best Stage Show" this year as well.
2017 was a shakeup year for the group, as Viollca had to be out for the majority of the year due to being pregnant. You might have seen Viollca's substitute Rosemary during this time! The baby was born just before the second weekend of the Kansas City Renaissance Festival, and Viollca was back to joining the stage for at least a few spins here or there within a month!