Red and purple lights illuminate a dark, 120-seat sauna in downtown Brooklyn as Joli and Alexi Irvine enter the room. Known as the Celestial Sisters, the Las Vegas–based competitors and former Cirque du Soleil stars begin their 15-minute The Magic Within performance, inspired by the themes of power, illusion, and self-belief.
Joli places an ice ball infused with sage essential oil on the stove, firmly smashes it onto the hot rocks with a wooden spoon, and carefully ladles water around it. Steam rises. Then the towels start flying.
The Irvines each sweep one overhead like a lasso, distributing waves of scented heat through the room, all the way up into the top corners.
This week, the sisters are taking a brand-new routine to Satama Sauna Resort & Spa in the Brandenburg countryside of Germany for the Aufguss World Championships, the sport’s biggest stage. Last year, at their debut Worlds in Italy, they finished 13th among 40 teams and made the European community sit up. This year they return with something to prove, as part of a Team USA delegation hoping to close the gap on countries where Aufguss has generations of traditions, techniques, and stars.
Aufguss is a European sauna ritual in which a sauna master pours water or scented ice over hot stones and uses towels to circulate the resulting steam. After decades in Europe, it’s begun showing up on daily schedules across bathhouses in the United States. Bathhouse Williamsburg debuted the ritual in 2022, and it now shows up seven times a day across the contrast therapy studio’s three NYC locations. Aufguss-inspired “guided sauna sessions” happen regularly at Othership, as well as newcomers Lore and The Altar.
At the second annual Aufguss USA Nationals in late May, sauna masters competed like athletes in Show Aufguss—with performances that included costumes, lighting, music, choreography, and a plot.
