Today we’d like to introduce you to Anthony “Fyrefli” Gasaway.
Hi Anthony “Fyrefli”, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
We all have a point in our lives, whether it be in our youth or adult years, where we observe our passions, work ethic and contemplate the possibility of turning the things we do that make us happy into a full-time things. Some people choose not to pursue this path in order to preserve the purity of why they do what they do, and there’s nothing wrong with that, meanwhile others wish to jump into this concept from the get-go.
For myself, I realized that I love what I do very much, and I couldn’t imagine a life in which my artistry and passions wasn’t a key factor, but in order to do so, I would have to overcome one of the most uncharted and unpredictable obstacles faced by many creatives–how to sustain, maintain and live off of my artistry successfully. I was born and grew up in Houston, TX with Mom and Dad, both of which had excellent taste in music ranging from Jazz, R&B, Motown, and even the early HipHop movement, and they shared their love of dance with myself and my siblings from a young age up. Dad was the first person I ever saw dance the way he did, and once I began to learn from him that what he was doing was something that was part of a larger movement and culture, I became inspired to do the same.
Dancing, more specifically Street Dance, was something that clicked for me because I dealt with a lot of social issues as a child, and being bullied because of things like my height or the fact that I spoke “proper English” and found interest in things that other did not often left me feeling angry and unheard, but there was this one day I saw my Dad dancing and I was about 11 years old at the time. I remember saying to myself, “I want to do that–I want to move like that,” and I started learning basic things from him then. Along with this came clips of old music videos on VHS tapes, recorded from various Top 40 music video countdowns, as well as taped portions of movies like “Beat Street”, in conjunction with the cool stories my Dad told me about himself and my uncle in their youth, going to convention centers and park jams in his home state of Denver, Colorado, and how big and inspired the community was. I took these stories and lessons to heart, and I spent hours in my room practicing and listening to the music, honing my skills until I found other kids in middle school that felt the same way, and we were all inspired by “You Got Served” to start our own crew.
I moved schools the second half of my 6th grade year as we relocated to a safer area to live, following traumatic crime-related issues at our old neighborhood, and I was the only person for a while in my new school who danced the way I did. I didn’t meet any other dancers until my 8th-grade dance, where I got into my first battle and earned my nickname “Fyrefli” from a friend for “lighting up the dancefloor.” Through high school, I formed a second crew, on top of being in various classes for business marketing, Video Technology and Cinematography, Journalism, Theatre and Technical Theater, and alongside all of it, dancing in hallway battles, creating our own Friday cypher events and eventually was offered a slot at our school’s 2011 Spring Show to finally perform and be seen as more than a collective of loud kids in a hallway blocking traffic. There were movies out then like the famous “Step Up” series which were inspiring to see when it came to the dance aspect, but even at a young age, I wondered why the narrative of dancers having to struggle financially, be homeless, or downtrodden was so present in all of the films; I began to ponder a way to make dancing a sustainable career as high school neared its end for me and graduation approached, and more people I knew were beginning to quit dancing to “focus on a real career”. I remember how it hurt to hear that, but at that age, I didn’t truly understand why, and I didn’t realize until recently that the reason hearing that term hurt was because I was watching talented, dedicated and immersed artists rip their very beings out of themselves in order to pursue an unfulfilling position somewhere else.
I realized that they were giving up what made them whole in exchange for what made them a paycheck.
There’s nothing wrong with working a job at all, and that’s not what I want anyone to think, but again I was always pondering what it would take to make it happen with dance and I was intent on making it happen. I graduated high school, attended community college locally, meanwhile converting a business I created in high school into a full-time gig doing photoshoots, videography and graphic design work for hire, and all the time researching and building a prototype concept for myself to make a career happen. It took several years and many mishaps and I made the decision to move to Atlanta and did so in 2016. Here, I worked everything from installation jobs to fast food, taught martial arts, and eventually got back into dancing full-time, and picked up a job teaching dance classes. I was starting to get booked appearing at local networking events and in music videos, but I wasn’t being paid yet and I learned from less-than-desirable people that being unprotected and unknowledgeable in this industry will get you hurt, taken advantage of, and left in the cold. I revamped my approach, did more research and began crossing over the business information and structured learning I’d accumulated into my notebook over the years so that it would fit a format suitable for a dancer and even a dance studio concept. I built my resume and began reaching out and creating opportunities for myself to get bookings, and by 2018 I was traveling, teaching, performing and sharing what I knew with fellow dancers.
By early 2020, I was able to fill my schedule between teaching regular classes, after-school programs and workshops throughout the week, and party motivation, photo and video gigs on the weekends. I met my now-fiancé Joy “Kuma” Rowe in late 2020, and our crew, FyreNation Crew was born. Kuma came up with an idea to bring people together with a monthly, free event that would travel to different locations and give them a safe space to mingle, network, exchange, fellowship, and collaborate, as well as touch base with the greater community. I wanted to continue sharing what I learned and knew via my online class series “Battle to Business Mentality”, which goes over the basic needs to help artists and creatives begin the process of turning their passions into careers, and Kuma wanted to gather the people with the talent and the people who had the opportunities and needed access to the talent into one place. Her event, now known internationally as WeOnFyre Cypher was born and currently touring in Africa this year.
By 2021, we were booking shows, teaching in multiple studio classes, in-school and after-school programs across the city, hosting WeOnFyre Cypher events every month, and expanding our outreach to include safe, family-friendly competitive dance events like our BattleNation adult battle series. We’d been interviewed several times by various magazines, podcasts and events about our story.
By 2022, we were planning the international tour for the WeOnFyre Cypher, started a chapter of FyreNation Crew in the Philippines starting with our first-ever international member, Mael “Maelstrom” Doctora, inducted Hit The Beat Africa creator and organizer HipHop Profecer Mark into FyreNation Crew, I booked my first-ever TV show appearances on TV One’s Urban One Honors show, and our crew was becoming a well-known entity, spoken of by many people throughout various communities for our efforts in trying to represent, educate and advocate for artists’ rights, education and preparation. Not everyone is happy with the fact that we focus on making sure that lack of education or proper business etiquette is not a tool that entities can use against artists anymore, but our network expands to include everything we need in order to do it–we’re not just a bunch of dancers, we all have various skills ranging from photographers, cinematographers, business consultants, writers, graphic designers, event coordinators, sponsors, and so on, all of which are dedicated to providing resources and positively encouraging the next generation.
It’s currently 2023, and in less than two months, we have partnered with various dance studio programs teaching both the foundations of Street Dance and HipHop culture and history, as well as artist preparatory materials so that our students can see what we do, learn how to cultivate their experiences to build their resumes and go on to gain experience through the network of safe, trustworthy people we work with and secure paid opportunities. It’s been busy, not to mention Kuma and I are slated to get married this year in May!
FyreNation Crew and WeOnFyre Network started off as just an idea to not only show that you can do what you love full-time but also provide access to the resources to make it happen. That’s all we set out to do–answer the cries of the people who feel stuck, lost or uninspired because they’re torn between their artistry and their time-consuming job.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
This journey hasn’t been the smoothest road–nothing worth doing is ever easy when you first start. Apart from all of the learning I had to do, I was often told that what I aspired to create was something never done before. I’ve always despised hearing the phrase “if it were possible, someone would’ve done it already” because it denotes that we as individuals cannot be special, or chosen, or have a calling.
I got in the habit as a teenager of having the rebuttal phrase, “If it hasn’t been done before, then maybe I’m meant to be the first one.”
Years later, I saw the movie Zootopia–which I love–and there’s a moment when Judy Hopps’ parents tell her there’s never been a bunny cop before, and she quite literally says, “Oh, well then I guess I’ll have to be the first one,” and I had to laugh. She made it happen, and so did I.
Other obstacles faced on this journey is the right combination of like-minded people; some people may sense you’re onto something good and stick around until you make it, and then steal it, while others don’t like that what you’re potentially able to do would outshine, expose, or otherwise be seen as a detriment to their own investments, so they sabotage you. It’s not a secret, and one thing we’ve always been about is the truth–when people see you’re building something and that others are willing to follow, uphold and believe in what you’re building, they will come out of the woodworks to slander you, tell others not to support you, and even throw your past, exaggerated false stories and narratives, and completely fabricated incidents out there to people to hinder your success. The way I learned to see it is that what is meant to rise will rise, and anyone who is part of the journey will be part of it; those who are not will remove themselves as time passes. Kuma and I talk about it all the time, and we trust the Most High to lead us where we need to be. He’s not left us hanging yet, and He’s blessed us to have what we have and to grow. People hear about what we do regardless of the manner in which they hear, and when they meet us and see what we’re doing for themselves, they can tell what’s true and what isn’t immediately. This used to be our biggest obstacle, but now, it’s literally the last thing we worry about because we don’t do what we do to be celebrities or stars–we do it to fix the issues and offer solutions to the community for the various grievances we’ve taken to heart over the years. The way we see it, we’re not the heroes in capes, we’re the clean-up crew making sure everything is ready and prepared for the current and future generations.
The last, most difficult obstacle is often funding; we have resources and sponsors that help us complete our tasks, but we would like to be able to do more events and functions and eventually open our own physical studio in a central location. It’s not a complaint or a gripe, and Kuma and I gladly do what we do, including teaching classes all week at multiple places, coming out of pocket to throw free events, and looking at ways to better serve the community. We are currently looking into leads sent our way to help us with securing funding for more projects, but we’re not going to stop doing what we do because we believe in finding a way to make it happen where everyone can enjoy the benefits of what we do. It’s not just for us.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a professional street dancer and instructor, as well as Co-founder of FyreNation Crew based in Atlanta, GA. I travel, teach, perform and help host community events, as well as teach classes in preparatory methods to help artists and creatives begin their path and have the resources to turn their passions into careers. I teach all ages foundations of street dance styles including Breaking, Locking, and Popping/Animation in various programs around and in Atlanta, as well as being the event organizer under Kuma for WeOnFyre Cypher and the creator of CypherNation Kids Battle Series.
I guess I’m most known for teaching since most people recognize me from the fact I teach a ton of classes, but I’ve also been recognized from being on TV One’s Urban One Honors show both 2022 and 2023 as a performer, and I’ve appeared in numerous music videos as well with well-known and local artists and talent. I’m always doing something, and truth be told, I don’t often look at everything I’ve done until someone points out that I’ve done a lot, and I end up saying “we” more than “I” which Kuma reminds me to remember to take credit for my own work, so I guess another thing I’m known for is being active in the community to help educate, advocate and resolve a lot of the problems we all face when it comes to how dancers and performance artists are treated. It’s not just me, though, because our entire crew and network resonate with this same goal, and Kuma and I do this together. We’re happy to have made such an impact in only two years of having the crew–and each other–that our efforts have gone international and inspired areas in the world that have people who wish to do what we do and now have the resources and guidance to do it.
One of the things we have been told sets all of us apart is that we genuinely care; we tailor everything to fit the community, including making sure people know that the resources we find and use are open to anyone who wishes to use them. We provide education and instruction so that those who need the help can be as functional and prepared as possible when it’s time to take the reins of their livelihood and launch their careers. We don’t just do what we’re asked to do, we bring more to the table and truly invest, and we believe in being honest and accountable, as well as holding others to the same respect. This way, we can heal a community that doesn’t see these values upheld anymore.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
There were a lot of childhood memories I hold dear, but one that always sticks out to me is the weekend random music and dance parties my family used to have. Whether it was a Friday night after a long day of work for my parents and school for us kids or an early Saturday morning filled with music and dancing. As mentioned before, this is actually the reason we were so musically and artistically inclined as kids growing up, and my parents being so involved with us and encouraging creative outlets for myself and my sisters is the reason I ended up pursuing dance as a hobby and career. It was one of these Saturday morning music and dance sessions that sparked my interest around age 11, seeing my Dad Popping and Ticking to Kraftwerk’s “Musique Non-Stop” that started it all for me.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @fyrefli.il3git
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fyrefli.il3git
