When a fire elementalist wizard uses the dancing flame ability with the detonate spell, can the wizard exclude his/her own square and thereby avoid the automatic half damage from the explosion?
I would say the spell supersedes the special ability. The spell says you take half the damage, and I don't think there is a way around it outside of fire resistance/immunity as is stated within the spell. You could however use the dancing flame ability to exclude nearby allies from the damage, and they would probably appreciate it.