Cindy Marvell

Juggler, Perfomer, Writer

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Ladies and Gentlemen, in the Center Ring…

By

The New York Times

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1997

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IN THE CENTER RING…

AFTER DECADES IN THE SPOTLIGHT, LOTTIE BRUNN

TAKES TIME TO BASK

By CINDY MARVELL

Ask anyone who knows about the art of tossing clubs, rings or balls into the air–and keeping them there elegantly–and chances are you will hear homage paid to Lottie Brunn.

Ms. Brunn has not performed since the mid-1980‘s, but even now, at 71, she looks as if all she needs is a pair of spiked heels (in fact, she still wears them), some fishnet stockings and a sequined leotard to come theatrically alive in the spotlight of the center ring.

From her first professional engagement as a teen-ager in her native Germany through a career with the Ringling show and on the nightclub circuit, Ms.


Brunn became known for speed (her billing: “the world’s faster female juggler”), first in tandem with her older brother, Francis, and then later as a solo act.

How she came to live quietly in a trailer park here in Bergen County almost 40 years ago is merely the function of a life spent on the road: she had traveled to New York City in 1959 to appear on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and needed a place to park. There were other performers in the park then, she said, and trailer life was always part of being peripatetic–if not trailers, then hotels, but rarely apartments or houses. Circus performers and vaudevillians often worked 11 months a year, seven days a week, two or three shows a day.

It has been 60 years since Ms. Brunn started practicing with her brother in Aschaffenburg, their hometown near Frankfurt. Francis, now 74, still performs, but Lottie, troubled by arthritis in her neck and wrists from a lifetime of juggling, has limited her involvement to occasional teaching and coaching.

In recent years she has taught or lectured at the State university of New York at Purchase, Ringling‘s Clown College and the Big Apple Circus School in East Harlem, as well as at local clubs. Teaching the technique is one thing; learning to deal with the inevitable–dropping things–is another:

“I had some shows, there were no drops, and I didn‘t think they were good,” she said, “Then I had some shows when I dropped a few times and the shows were great.” It’s all part of a day’s work, she said.

“If it happens in the middle and I do it again,” she added, “I get a bigger hand the second time” the trick is performed.

I first met Ms. Brunn at a juggling club in Hackensack, where she shook my hand with a grip of steel and insisted on watching me practice. (“It has to have a sequence, a meaning,” she said, “It has to build to a finish”).

But I had heard about her years before, when I was 14, an aspiring juggler toting balls, clubs, and rings to Falling Debris, a juggling club I belonged to in Manhattan. Mr. Brunn‘s picture was on the cover of Juggler’s World magazine. Wearing a black lace-covered leotard, with a headpiece cradling a ball balanced on her forehead and a ball in each hand, she seemed undaunted by the spectacle of two more balls hovering impossibly out of her reach.


She looked quite different from the jugglers I practiced with, a crew my mother described as “a bunch of 26-year-old guys in undershirts.” My father, a physicist, had learned three balls as a child for reasons nobody could remember; my aunt had taken juggling breaks while working on her doctorate. I had high hopes of forming a trio with my younger sister and brother and performing in my high school cabaret.

I was pleased to learn that Ms. Brunn did not originally come from a circus family, either. Her mother, like mine, had seemed a bit aloof from it all.

“My mother never wanted me to do it,” Ms. Brunn confessed. “We used to break everything in the house.”

Except for the miniature silver elephant on the railing outside Ms. Brunn‘s front door, there is no hint the woman who lives there appeared with the Greatest Show on Earth, or headlined at Radio City Music Hall, or toured with Spike Jones and the Harlem Globetrotters. To neighbors she is simply Lottie, the lively woman with the irrepressible smile who still moves with a dancer’s grace. But inside her home is a compact career museum.

On a recent visit there, I was met at the door by Ms. Brunn, whose feet were clad in her trademark high heels. Photographs of the Brunn Dynasty, as juggling historian Karl Heinz Zeithan has dubbed her family, decorate the walls.

Meet the relatives: there is Michael Chirrick, her son, spinning three volleyballs (one on a mouth-stick) while executing a backward roll. There is Ernest Montego, her half-brother, riding a unicycle as numerous rings circle around his body. And of course there is Francis, whose rigorous style of performance and endless devotion to the art have made him a legend in his field, caught in a rare moment of stasis.

Her husband, Ted Chirrick, pointed out that juggling is not a field in which one performer can ride on the coattails of another.

“When I see a magician, I think maybe he went out and bought the trick,” he said, “but in juggling, you have to earn it, and the audience knows it‘s hard.”

Ms. Brunn‘s regimen attested to that. “I used to practice five, six, seven hours per day,” she said. “The more I warmed up, the better I felt. Even doing two or three shows, I would practice the same.” On the road, when she was clocking about 45,000 miles a year, cramped quarters posed no problem. She practiced on her knees if there was not enough ceiling height.

Although Francis became her partner, mentoring started with her father, Michael, the owner of a restaurant and a gymnasium. He taught himself to juggle in a French prisoner of war camp during World War I. Inspired by a touring circus, Michael Brunn practiced juggling with stones and later moved on the apples and oranges.

Francis was sent to Berlin to attend a special acrobatic school and wrote letters home charting his progress. “He wrote that he could do three balls in one hand,” Ms. Brunn recalled. “I said: ‘That’s impossible. I can’t even do three with two hands!”

Eventually, she mastered four rings in each hand-simultaneously, at age 14. When Francis returned, the duo practiced with an exuberance that set spectators buzzing, and local fame led to the start of their professional career in 1939.

“A small stage show came to our village, lots of acts,” Ms. Brunn said. “Somebody knew we were practicing. They came out to the farm and asked would we be in the show.” Their performance so electrified the audience that they were offered a contract on the spot. “From this day,” she said, “we never came back.”

Their first major engagement, in Vienna, is one of the few performances to survive on film, and Ms. Brunn reluctantly pulls out the tape. “Juggling on video–boring,” she said. “You have to have been there, you have to have seen it.”

Still, one can see the start of Ms. Brunn‘s development from a mild- mannered assistant to a fiery superwoman of the stage. In the early years, Francis seems ready to burst out of his skin as he rushed forth to demonstrate the tricks that make him famous. Ms. Brunn seems more tentative, as if reluctant to draw attention away from her brother. Only at the end, when they take their final bow, do they seem to be true partners.

Though beloved by European audiences during the war, the Brunns always dreamed of continuing their career in America. In 1947 John Ringling saw their act in Spain and helped arrange their immigration. Ms. Brunn still has a gold Statue of liberty charm dated 3–23-62, the day she became a citizen.

“When I made my American Citizenship here in Hackensack, I studied,” she said. “I was pretty good. They had my whole file, everything. It was such a kick when I said, ‘I‘m more nervous now than when I opened at Radio City!”

The radio was playing, and Honeysuckle Rose came on. “This is the music Lottie used,” Mr. Chirrick recalls. “It’s too slow. Just bring it up a bit and it’s beautiful for juggling.” He ought to know: Mr. Chirrick (who met his wife backstage at a circus where he was assistant stage manager) crafted her special clubs and saw to it that her music was played correctly. Ms. Brunn practiced until the night before her son, Michael, was born in 1952 and resumed performing as a soloist six weeks later at the Big Top Sealtest Show in Camden.

Later, she hit the nightclub circuit.

“I played the Savoy in London,” she said. “I played every number one club in this country. Every town had beautiful clubs, and the newspapers came. Spokane, Portland, Montreal, Cleveland, Tommy Dorsey‘s show. Everything is gone. It‘s all finished now.”

Ms. Brunn kept a clipping from her favorite review, which appeared in the Montreal Gazette when she performed at the Bellevue Casino. Not that she needs proof-she still remembers it word for word: “Miss Brunn, sister to the well-known Francis, has all the speed and fire of her brother‘s act plus some definitely attractive features of her own. The Brunns are, without much doubt, the fastest catchers and tossers in show business and watching either one perform is an object lesson in what constant practice can do in the way of split-second timing.”

Ms. Brunn was such a hit in clubs that she almost rejected the chance of a lifetime.

“In 1957 they asked me to come to Ringling,” she recalled. “I said, ‘Oh, no, only nightclubs. I can‘t work a circus alone.’ Before that, I only performed solo when Francis was sick.” In the end she accepted and stayed almost a year. To this day she remains the only female juggler to have performed solo in the center ring for Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey.


 Watching a rare video of her solo act, it is apparent that she has come into her own style. Her hair is short now, highlighting the sharpness of her features as it does today, and for all her “frantic” athleticism the object seem to fall into place of their own accord. She juggles three rings in one hand and three balls in the other with a graceful, poetic quality which seems to transcend the complexity of the patterns. As she moves around her clubs and balls, she becomes part of the image without either distracting from the tricks or losing herself behind them. Her own assessment is characteristically simple and direct: “The way I worked, the way I moved, that made the impact. It doesn’t matter who I follow because of my speed, because of the way I work, because I am a woman, I am different.”

Of all her solo performances, Ms. Brunn‘s opening night at Radio City in 1959 tested her confidence and skill most acutely. “I was standing there, feeling like a little needle. I tried to practice, but I could not juggle three clubs. I was paralyzed.”

Her manager reassured her that every juggler who played Radio City felt that way, but Ms. Brunn was still sick with nerves. Lines stretched around the block for the opening of the feature film “North by Northwest.” Finally, the Brunn moment arrived: “I went on stage. Curtain opens. Rockettes went on. There is a big draft when the curtains open. I went out. I felt I was in heaven. The spotlights were like clouds, the violins–I did the best performance I ever did. I was there for eight weeks. I went from 94 to 87 pounds.”

Cindy Marvell is a juggler with Lazer Vaudeville, an acrobatic troupe that has performed throughout the United States and will appear in Red Bank next Sunday.

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Keeping it in the Air

By

SPECTACLE

A Quarterly Journal of the Circus Arts

FALL 2003

 

KEEPING IT IN THE AIR

By Cindy Marvell

 

From high atop the conductor’s podium, Ofek Shilton raised his baton. On stage before him, the orchestra, dressed in black, waited for the downbeat. The piece began: surprise! Maestro Shilton is an eight-year-old juggler from Israel. The ensemble included his older brother and juggling partner, Segev Shilton of Raanana, near Tel Aviv. This was no ordinary ensemble, but the IJO, which stands for “International Juggling Orchestra.” The cast included 22 jugglers from 13 countries. This musical melee— cleverly coordinated and humorously conceived by juggler Antonio Benitez of Spain—could only strike up at a juggling convention.

“IJO” is a bit of word play on the IJA (International Juggler’s Association), which invented the concept of juggling conventions (now called festivals) in 1947, hosting annual events in North America or Canada. Eventually, the idea spread to Europe, and the European Juggling Convention, known as the EJC, evolved into a weeklong event attracting as many as 3500 jugglers. This year, the IJA held its event at Circus Circus in Reno, Nevada, for a week in July; the EJC migrated to Svendborg, a seaside village in on the island of Fyn in Denmark, for eight days in August.

These events capped off a good season for jugglers within the wider world of circus. A record number of juggling acts (seven) entered and won awards at Cirque de Demain this year. Timo Wopp of Germany, who juggled hats, balls and clubs, won a bronze medal. Taras, a Ukrainian graduate of the Circus School of Kiev who juggled rings within a German Wheel, diaboloists “Les 7 Doigts de la Main” and Yannick Javaudin, and ball-bouncer extraordinaire Zdenek Supka of Czechoslovakia all won special prizes.


From the United States, the LaSalle Brothers, an acrobatic-juggling duo par excellence, also won a bronze medal at Cirque de Demain. Their act was also one of the highlights of the Public Show in Reno. Marty and Jake LaSalle happen to be identical twins. They are also disciples of the renowned juggler/coach Benji Hill. In a move created for the twins, Jake leaps over Marty’s head, traveling through a five-club pattern without disrupting it (the classic move, performed with three clubs, involves stealing the clubs). 10-club passing was accomplished with the ease that used to be reserved for seven. The LaSalles have been showing great teamwork, flair and technique from a very young age. While the duo has had many offers since their performance, the brothers have temporarily postponed their international career to attend Columbia University in New York; undoubtedly, they will graduate summa can juggle.

The English-German team of Luke Wilson and Ilka Licht, winners of the Moulin Rouge Prize in Paris, closed the Public Show in Denmark. Their trademark duet club-passing piece combines original choreography, costuming and charisma. Wilson, a willowy and intense performer who also holds close-up magic titles, dresses in a classy electric blue; Ilka wears a flamboyant orange dress from which she produces more clubs as the act progresses. Their intricate club “steals” and “replacements” have become legendary among jugglers; one trade-off involves a head-to-head balance transfer. Lukaluka manages to perform such complex moves as passing seven clubs back-to-back without losing their character presence or physical flow. Licht began as a teenager in a youth circus in Germany, where she also trained as an aerialist. In one of her trademark moves, she juggles three clubs, picks up a forth with her toes, and takes it from a high extension into the juggling pattern. Wilson is a notoriously quick and agile juggler who also brings a unique style and presence to his innovative tricks. With a soundtrack combining contemporary jazz and Celtic music, lukaluka presents a highly polished performance in which every catch, glance, and toss plays to the audience and enhances the emotional content of the piece. They are regulars on the variety theater circuit in Europe, including a long run at the Krystallpalast in Leipzig. Lukaluka’s blend of artistry and athleticism makes theirs one of the acts that can effectively cross over from variety to circus. They are graduates of The Circus Space in London, where their collaboration began, and the National Center for Circus Arts in Chalons.

In addition to showcasing some of the stars, the events in Reno and Svendborg gave attendees a chance to observe up-and-coming talent. A promising and accomplished young duo with technical skills that would carry well in circus has caught the attention of jugglers worldwide. The brother-sister team of Vova and Olga Galchenko, now based in New England, trained at Russian circus school near Moscow. When their family moved to America, it did not take long for the stellar siblings to infiltrate the juggling scene with their ever-growing repertoire of club-passing skills. Olga, at 13 the only girl to qualify for the Juniors competition in Reno, can juggle five clubs on a unicycle. She also performed five in a split off the edge of the stage, and won the Flamingo award for up-and-coming female jugglers. Vova, 15, won the bronze medal in the senior competition with his difficult solo club skills. Together, the Galchenkos won the silver medal in the team competition. They pass eleven clubs in practice, and can do ten back-to-back (starting by juggling five each) in addition to a variety of five- club steals and takeaways. The duo has performed at the Crawley Circus Festival and presented a piano-playing-while-juggling piece for the bronze medal at the European Youth Circus Festival in Wiesbaden in 2002. Their practice sessions drew large crowds of jugglers, both in Reno and Denmark.

But the IJA’s Reno festival belonged to Circus Circus jugglers Bill Berry and Jonathan Root. The California duo, known as Team Rootberry, won the IJA’s team competition. Using their fluid club-passing variations, the past silver medallists created an entertaining spoof on the sports world. Bill Berry accomplished a rare feat by also winning the solo event the same night (the last person to do so was Peter Davison of the trio Airjazz). Team Rootberry’s club passing courts incessant difficulty without ever courting disaster; Root and Berry are the type of jugglers whose tricks are always on, always flowing in textbook form without ever seeming tense or belabored. Their performance style exudes great energy and passion for the craft. In his solo work, Berry’s long-limbed physique extenuates his impressive and original tricks; his novel three-ball routine attracted particular attention and won yet another award. Berry also added a rarely performed combination trick: juggling five clubs while sword swallowing. Team Rootberry nabbed the People’s Choice award from the crowd of attending jugglers; the duo then continued their run at Circus Circus.

Also competing as a solo act was Alex Chimal of Circus Chimera. Chimal, from the Yukatan, choreographs his own acts with balls and clubs. A true circus professional, Chimal pushes himself to set high standards in both technique and theatricality. One innovative club move was a kick-up into a forward roll—before catching the club. Chimal bounces seven balls on a raised platform.

Several other world-renowned Circus Circus performers appeared in the IJA’s public show at the Golden Phoenix Theater. Anthony Gatto, the towering juggling talent who first wowed convention-goers as a child prodigy, was on hand to close the show with his stunningly difficult tricks with numerous balls, clubs and rings, including a seven-club finish (until Anthony arrived on the scene, five was considered the max in club juggling).

Circuses Gatto has appeared with include Circus Knie, Australia’s Michael Edgley Circus, and Germany’s Circus Krone. He is also the only juggler ever to win the Golden Clown Award in Monte Carlo. In 2004, Gatto can be seen at the Venetian in Las Vegas, Le Faitbout in Paris, and the TigerPalast in Frankfurt. Gatto and his father, Nick, a former member of the vaudeville trio Los Gatos, taught a 4-day master class called “IDP,” designed to take participants to the next technical level. Anthony and fellow phenom Albert Lucas teamed up to present the IJA’s Bobby May Award to their fathers for their work in Los Gatos.

Another past IJA champion, Francoise Rochais of France, opened the show. Dressed in a long white gown, she performed original umbrella and ring combinations. Her trademark “flower sticks,” which resemble batons with handles, serve as clubs. Rochais is one of the few in the world capable of performing seven clubs solo, a feat she can also accomplish with fire torches. Rochais uses her elegant style to create acts with a variety of atmospheres and costuming. In Reno, her performance featured a mix of French romance and Vegas pizzazz. Rochais is a past silver medallist at Cirque l’Avenir has trained at an acrobatics school in Guangzhou, China, and with circus director Valentin Gneouchev in Moscow.

Viktor Kee, appearing at a juggling convention for the first time, lost no time in making the stage his own. Thanks to his much admired work with Cirque du Soleil, Kee has many fans in the juggling world, and they were not disappointed as he launched into action.

Kee is known for the way his fluid style of acro-dance seamlessly complements his ball juggling, rolling, and bouncing.

With so many international jugglers in Reno, what would be left to see in Denmark? Fortunately, circus has really taken off in Scandinavia, and over 2,500 jugglers attended. One of the top jugglers currently working in circus and variety theater, Shirley Dean, winner of the Princess of Circus prize, hails from Sweden. The maestro of hat and box acts, Kris Kremo of Switzerland, performed at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, not far from the convention site in Svendborg.

Plenty of Nordic jugglers showcased their acts in this fairytale city on the island of Fyn, birthplace of Hans Christian Anderson. Samuel Gustavsson from Stockholm began with three large rings, performing some classic moves and some of his own invention. Moving very smoothly, he worked up to five with great style and atmosphere. He has been touring internationally with Cirkus Cirkor, performing as an actor, comedian and juggler. A student of the Circus pilots school, he will attend the Suborb Circus Festival in Sweden before returning to school to work on a solo show.

Two Copenhagen jugglers, Nils Poll and Steen Offersen, showcased their solo acts. Nils Poll combined physical comedy and hat and box juggling with his comedy character. Poll, a veteran of the festival circuit, is currently on a return engagement in Japan. Offersen performed with two silver diabolos and, in an act rarely attempted, with two devil sticks. The Danish clown/juggler Tape juggled rings while balancing cigar boxes. The circus spoofers Loyal Club rode horse-unicycles and Aerius of Copenhagen performed on fabric. Ville Walo of Helsinki, Finland, performed with “square rings,” rings which really are square.

Connie Leaverton, a juggler, unicyclist and filmmaker from Austin, TX, attended the festival on her way to some European engagements at festivals and corporate events. While at the EJC, Leaverton recruited Karen Bourre of France, another graduate of London’s Circus Space, to participate in an independent film, “Trailblazers: Women Who Juggle.” Bourre had been touring with Cirque Baroque since the previous September and is also a past collaborator with the Gandini Jugglers of London.

As Leaverton filmed, Bourre ran through an incredible six and seven ball bounce sequence taken from her circus act. The variety of patterns and dancerly interaction with a high level of technique makes this another rare and intriguing example of difficult juggling extended into the realm of character and movement.

It seemed that almost all the jugglers achieving this effect had circus school backgrounds. Urs Rohrer, a Swiss juggling clown from the Basil area, attended the circus school in Weisbaden. He has also performed with circus Harlekin Liliput. Rohrer juggled up to five giant tennis balls with a clown character that radiated delight. Dafne Merijn from Holland studied dance and choreography as a student at “Etage” in West Berlin. She explained that the East Berlin school tends to focus more on skill, the West more on theater and art. Merijn rolled an orange ball around her body while performing acrobatic combinations. She also taught workshops in “contact juggling.”

This field carries a lot of controversy in the juggling world. These techniques were brought into juggling by Michael Moschen, and a number of jugglers on the professional circuit have lifted his crystal ball and bouncing acts without permission; books teaching his techniques have been published without his consent. However there are jugglers who have used the concept of ball rolling, also associated with rhythmic gymnastics, to come up with their own skills, and Merijn is one of these. Tony Duncan, a past performer with the Copenhagen Circus, is another master of this technique. As Merijn says, “contact jugglers tend to get in contact,” and for every batch of imitators there are a few who have found their own path with this zen-like art.

Another example of creative inspiration could be found in ball bouncer Stefan Zimmerman’s collaboration with Lithuanian violinist Leva Zygaite (note: with accent). In addition to integrating tap-dancing and rola bola balancing with his juggling skills, Zimmerman performed atop a platform with different shapes and levels for the bounces to play off. While some of these multi-level bounces can be found in Moschen’s work, the concept and technique appear to be largely Zimmerman’s own.The duo’s stage rapport enhanced their intriguing presentation.

Three performers who have trained together at L’Ecole san Filet, the circus school in Brussels, performed their work at the EJC. Daniel Megnet and Dirk Meyev of Germany collaborated with American Paul Anderson in a high-energy juggling and acrobatic montage. This crowd-pleasing trio will pursue circus work in the U. S. next winter, when they will be in training at Anderson’s ABC Circus Center in Hollywood, Florida. Anderson has become a fixture at juggling and circus events, setting up trampolines and tumbling equipment and teaching duet acro with his wife, a professional dancer and teacher. Other circus-oriented stand-outs in Svendborg included Tony Freburg of France, who spun up to three (and even four) diabolos on a string while performing splits and back aerials; Toby Walker, a juggler from Wales whose club technique has reached outrageous heights; and renowned diaboloist Donald Grant, who has been featured in Pomp, Duck and Circumstance.

The international exchanges will continue next July and August as these events move to Buffalo, NY, and Lille, France. High turnouts are expected in these regions, promising a mind-blowing spectacle of coordination and cacophony. To find out more, check the web site Juggle.org. And watch out for juggling conductors!

www.spectaclemagazine.com

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Juggling Around the Revolution

By

Juggler’s World

VOL. 43, NO. 4

 

JUGGLING AROUND THE REVOLUTION

 

HOT GEORGIAN POLITICS COOLED BY WARM WELCOME FOR INTERNATIONAL JUGGLERS

 


By Cindy Marvell

 

“The cigarette deal is OUT. Bring conservative cotton shirts to donate to the circus instead.” Such were the final instructions issued by Haggis McLeod to a group of jugglers assembled at a preliminary meeting in Verona a week before their departure for the First International Juggling Festival held in Tbilisi, Georgia, last September. We all looked forward to the trip, but had little idea what to expect beyond the spotty news reports of protests in the streets, overshadowed in the media by the Russian coup two weeks earlier. McLeod, an accomplished juggler and performer from England, reassured us that our hosts were still enthusiastically awaiting our arrival, and warned us to expect the unexpected in a country which just achieved independence from Moscow last April.

He described some of the experiences he had a few years ago while working as an actor with a Georgian theater troupe, which inspired him to organize a juggling convention in conjunction with the Georgian State Circus. A week later, almost all the 160 registered jugglers representing at least 17 countries from Wales to New Zealand managed to assemble at the airport in East Berlin, where we met American-turned-Dutch co-organizer Lee Hayes. The airport resembled a circus of sorts, as islands of juggling sprouted up amid piles of baggage and joyful reunions. The jubilant atmosphere continued on the plane to Moscow with club passing blocking the aisles as people studied their Georgian language sheets. The majority of participants came from England and America, with large contingents from Spain and France.

New Yorker Alex Pape was among the first to arrive at the Moscow domestic airport. His double-devilstick routine could be practiced just about anywhere. Informed of a possible 10-hour delay, Frank Olivier and Jeff Daymont led a three-ball workshop in the departure lounge. Henry Camus, Markus Markoni and others did some spontaneous busking for appreciative Russian travelers, while Ollie Crick from England entertained the jugglers with his inimitable sense of humor and mandolin playing.

We arrived in Tbilisi at 3 a.m. to find the host families still waiting for us. For many of us, the host family experience was memorable. Since each person was assigned to a different family, everyone experienced the convention in a totally different way. At the airport I was introduced to my 19-year-old host, Sophie, and her younger brother George, a cherubic 11-year-old. George gallantly carried the luggage upstairs to an apartment where we were warmly greeted by Granny. The apartment looks like the set from the film “Fanny and Alexander” with ornate lamps and cabinets everywhere. My room looks like a Renaissance period piece, with gritty old-fashioned grandeur. And the bed is heavenly zzzzzzz…

 

Monday

 

I caused great consternation among my hosts by washing my hair with the freezing cold faucet water instead of using boiled water from the stove. Georgians are famous for their hospitality, and breakfast is overwhelming. Granny gets up at dawn to make cheese bread, dumplings and special vegetarian dishes (bless her) from scratch. The Georgian specialty is a round, pizza-like loaf of bread about 3 inches thick and weighing several tons. Granny loves to see us eat as she bustles about, and won‘t let anyone leave the table without gaining a few pounds. Little George shows me how to sweeten the tea using various kinds of jelly (and, later in the week, champagne). He has learned quite a bit of English in school, and introduces me to his pet mouse, Zanzan. Meanwhile, back at the circus building, the juggling portion of the convention is getting underway. Already the ring is overflowing with jugglers, and the Russians have arrived.

No sooner had an orientation meeting been called than four Georgian acrobats descended from the ceiling and hovered above our heads from chords attached to their waists. They weaved various star shapes in the air as their coach called out instructions from below. Later on in the week some Western jugglers tried it and found it more difficult than it looked.

McLeod introduces interpreters Zurab Revazishvili (who speaks English better than the English) and Guram Akhobadze, who spends the week racing around and trying to see that everything goes perfectly (he is often disappointed, but nobody seems to mind). Nana Milkadze, the gracious artistic director of the circus, told us that the circus building is the second oldest in the Soviet Union. Completely circular and surrounded by columns, it rises majestically above the city on a steep hill with a grand staircase leading up to it. The audience is seated all around the ring, making it a more atmospheric and intimate setting for performances. The daily program remained the same throughout the week, although most people chose to accompany their Georgian hosts on various excursions when the schedule permitted. Max and Susi Oddball of England so enjoyed their hosts’ company that they disappeared with them for two days and returned with tales of a picturesque village in the mountains evoking envy from McLeod. Many hosts seemed puzzled by the convention format, not understanding why jugglers would want to spend time in the circus building unless required to. Every afternoon there was an optional group excursion to the old city or a nearby 11th century

church. Dinner was served in a dining hall nearby, and provided a nice opportunity for jugglers to socialize before returning for the evening show.

Tuesday

 

Sophie offers to take in English juggler par excellence Sean Gandini as more arrive. This evening there is a parade, modified to a gathering in a crowded square to avoid the demonstrations.

On the way there I talked with Mikhail Staroseletsky. Among the Russian jugglers in attendance, Staroseletsky is unique in that he is a dentist by profession and only juggles as a hobby. He displayed some of the best technical juggling seen at the convention. He spent the week in a juggling paradise. Earlier that day he gave a demonstration to an appreciative ring-full of jugglers in preparation for the public show. He begins with an innovative and mostly indescribable routine involving a tennis racket and up to five balls, working up to a half shower with the racket used in place of his hand. His smoothness and consistency with five and seven-ball pirouettes was very impressive, especially to those of us who attempted to keep aloft the large yet very lightweight orange balls he uses. As is traditional, he makes his own clubs but has a slower, more controlled style, methodically placing them in the air rather than flinging them ahead of time. Staroseletsky comes from Kazakhstan and his dream is to attend an IJA convention. When we arrived at the games, Staroseletsky attempted club passing for the first time while veterans attempted to pass across a murky fountain in the center of the square and hold the curious spectators at bay. As darkness approached, Alexis Lee awed the crowds with a dramatic display of fire eating and Otto Weizzenegger dazzled everyone with his spark-shooting fire diabolo. Maike Aerden and Rex Boyd left the group scene to do some street performing and met with great success just inches from the demonstrations. After the games, Sophie took Gandini and me to her friend Thea‘s birthday party, where we got to sample (abundantly) the famous Georgian champagne amid many toasts.

Wednesday

 

The news of the day is that Alex Pape actually arrived at the convention after a three-day adventure in Moscow immigration. Falling in with about 25 Kurdish refugees who left Baghdad on foot to escape Saddam Hussein, Pape became good friends with a family who camped in a corridor for seven months before a Swedish family offered to take them in. “I‘m kind of glad to have made it here, but it was so sad saying good-bye,” said the exhausted devil-stick wizard. This brought to mind the special treatment we got as Western visitors. People work hard to keep life going despite the shortages, or lack of commonplace products (clothing, razors, shampoo, etc.). It is not uncommon to find a large store with only one item lining the shelves, such as salty mineral water. Bread can be found easily enough if you know where and when to shop for it. Fruit and vegetables come from farmer‘s trucks that pull in on Saturdays. People line up with enough luggage for several weeks and begin loading up on eggplants, tomatoes, grapes and pears. With perseverance, things like coffee, sugar and chewing gum can be found, but they are considered delicacies.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs tried to explain the complexities underlying the constant demonstrations. Rostavelli Prospect, Tbilisi‘s main street, has been barricaded since Soviet troops fired on a crowd of protesters two years ago, killing 16 teenage girls. There are two groups of demonstrators: those who support Georgia‘s recently elected president and are in favor of independence, and those known as the “oppressors” who want to force the president out of office and re-establish some of the ties with Moscow. The National Guard is split between the two groups, and the Georgian police seemed to be joining in the debates. There are also two groups of hunger strikers, though they do not oppose each other. One requests freedom for political prisoners, while the other favors a return to normalcy.

The atmosphere was strained but reasonably calm during our visit, but five people were killed in violence a few days after we left. Most residents have become so accustomed to the barricade – which resembles the set from Les Miserables – that they drive around it without giving it a second thought. Under these conditions the very existence of the Georgian Circus is impressive, and we were treated to a performance that night. Georgian juggler Odesia opened the show with a technical juggling act including a five-ball start, seven rings and a three-club kick-up. There was also roller skating, chair balancing, an equestrian act and a very dramatic contortionist. The grand finale, to the music of 2001 Space Odyssey, featured the flying act, which we saw on the first day, this time wearing luminescent space suits. The polished cradle act remained poised even when the lights went out unexpectedly. The circus was said to have suffered from recent events, but Ollie Crick insisted that aside from the hiccoughs, the finale was the best. That night Sophie took us to a tea party where we met her real grandmother, her uncle and a cousin who plans to move to New York to practice dentistry. All spoke English and were eager to hear descriptions of the economic situation in America. Terms like “recession” and “inflation” seemed meaningless compared to the shortages they experience daily, and it is difficult to convince Georgians that for many Americans the picture is not as rosy as it seems.

Thursday

 

Everyone noticed a high turnout of female jugglers in Tbilisi. On the convention floor, Anna Bahler from Switzerland sparkled as she practiced some intricate and graceful three-club variations, while Susi Oddball kept countless passing patterns afloat. Among the Eastern delegation, I found Sasha from Latvia to be most intriguing. She is from Riga but currently attends the Moscow Circus School, where she has spent the last year rehearsing from 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. each day. After that she works at home with a mirror for another hour, developing the mime skills that she wants to incorporate into her act. The Georgian convention was a sort of holiday for her. While the other Russians practiced vigorously during their allotted times, she hung around the outside of the ring and lackadaisically tossed 6 yellow balls or played with three clubs. Later she confessed her frustration with the daily practice routine, saying that it limited her creative development and natural practice rhythm. Sasha speaks quite a bit of English, but conversations tended to deteriorate into spontaneous pantomime routines.

She enjoyed being the class clown in Moscow, but took her work very seriously. “I like to meet people‘s eyes and make them smile – that is most important,” she said. Her wish: to come to America, of course. That afternoon Karen Quest led 25 of us on a “girls only” excursion to the Turkish baths. Before entering the colorful building, the group juggled outside around the brick domes in an attempt to sell tickets for the final show. Sandy Johnson made many friends with her clowning and balloon animals, and the indefatigable Mikhail Staroseletsky joined in the juggling. Once inside, many were confused by the underground corridors and ended up with no more than a hot shower, but a few found their way to the marble baths. That night the first of three public shows took place in the circus building, with McLeod in traditional Georgian costume serving as ringmaster. For the visiting jugglers, it was a challenge to adapt acts to the circus ring. The band, whose jazzy tunes could be heard throughout the week, helped many.

Jeffrey Daymont used the opportunity to add more movement to his impossible cigar box tricks. Fellow Kansan Rex Boyd grooved his way through a funky fire-swinging routine and engaged the audience with Georgian vocabulary. Frank Olivier relied on his entertaining personality and performed some of his trademark pieces. Twelve-year-old Jessica Sheldrick, who came from Yorkshire with her father, braved the carpeted arena in a classy unicycle duet. Cliff, Mary, and little Mary Spenger provided true family entertainment, culminating in a 3-person high shoulder stand with 3-year-old Mary on top. In one of the more creative acts, the multi-talented Henry Camus played original piano music while Sean Gandini danced through an ethereal three-ball piece. Camus then followed with his own style of inventive club juggling. Lee Hayes took a break from his convention duties to perform with Fritz Brehm and his giant umbrellas. The Russian jugglers performed fast-paced routines that exhibited their incredible skills. Oleg Tchapum dressed as a matador and fought the battle against gravity with large numbers of clubs and rings (he did 5-club flats in practice). Albert Arslanov from Siberia did an unusual routine in which he caught one pole on top of another in increasingly far-fetched ways. His stage presence and infectious smile were so energetic that the audience enjoyed the attempts at nailing new moves. He also used a dagger as a mouth stick, catching objects on the edge of the blade, and made many friends throughout the convention.

Mikhail Staroseletsky‘s practicing paid off. He was virtually flawless, his look of intense concentration never wavering. At one point he kept aloft two large balls, two rings, and a tennis racket, and finished by running across the ring while doing five club backcrosses. The good-natured sextet Ashvitz, composed of three men and three women, seemed to enjoy their work as they began with four clubs each and then filled the ring with precise passing variations. Their choreography was simple but very effective. It ended with the leader Sergei attempting to catch all the clubs in a net – Frank Olivier took a try and was bombarded as the pace speeded up. The show came to an exciting close with Sergei Zobolotini, who performed innovative hat and cane manipulations with a snazzy style. By hitting the rim of the hat with the canes he created a floating

effect similar to that introduced by old vaudevillian Mel Ody. With one cane in each hand, he then juggled up to four hats by catching them on the ends. Sophie‘s extended family cheered us on, and after the show her cousin drove us up a nearby mountain to experience a magical force which, legend says, causes empty cars to roll up a slight incline. It worked!

 

Friday

 

I went on the group excursion to a Byzantine church in the mountains. Our chaperons were eager to bring us back right away, but when chants of “Corn bread and bean soup!” threatened to lift the roof of the bus, they let us stop at an outdoor restaurant for the best meal of the week. The show was similar to Thursday‘s with several notable additions. Maike Aerden from Holland captivated the audience with her radiant presentation of silky smooth diabolo variations. She moved gracefully around the entire ring and finished by jumping over the string six times. Tim Furst of The Flying Karamazov Brothers (every trip should have one) joined in a torch-swinging quartet and Canadian Raymond Bolduc presented an original three-ball routine. Karen Quest used whip cracking to split some hard-to-find Georgian spaghetti. Markus Markoni won the audience‘s hearts with his whimsical clown character and gave his young volunteer a memory to cherish.

 

Saturday

 

The gigantic Sportspalace represented a new challenge for us from the circus building. One of the visually effective moments was the opening, in which all the jugglers entered in practiced formations carrying their country‘s flags. Jugglers applied their quick wits to overcome a stage that resembled an obstacle course, a quartet that became a trio when it was discovered that one of the members had left on an earlier plane, and an accidental fire on the gym floor. The audience appreciated the skills and risks involved in taking circus to the stage.

Sunday

 

We went from circus life to a beautifully organized farewell banquet in a hotel overlooking the city. Jugglers and their hosts feasted and toasted for five hours. The biggest gamarjos went to McLeod and Hayes for organizing the event, which was made very affordable for the jugglers. McLeod plans to hold another Tbilisi festival next year, and a convention in Siberia is also in the works.

The week was filled with camaraderie. One person said, “Everyone was made to feel special regardless of the skills they possessed.” Many were changed by the experience and plan to keep in touch with their host families. And no one will forget the very last toast, which took place in Red Square at 3 am. en route to the Moscow airport. For a brief period, juggling filled the otherwise silent square, completely deserted except for straight-faced guards in front of Lenin‘s tomb. They must have found the sight surreal as jugglers paraded around and chanted for “Independent Georgia.” We left behind a jug of Georgian wine so they would know it was not a dream.

Cindy Marvell is 1989 IJA Seniors Champion currently performing with the Pickle Family Circus in California.

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Jugglers Whose Props Are Just the Beginning

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The New York Times

SUNDAY, AUGUST 8, 1999

JUGGLERS WHOSE PROPS

ARE JUST THE BEGINNING

By CINDY MARVELL

WHAT does it take to become the Victor Borge of juggling? ”You need the skill, the virtuosity, the expertise, the knowledge of the subject, but in the end you really just need to be entertaining.‘‘ So says Allan Jacobs, the taller half of the Gizmo Guys, Manhattan-based master jugglers who will bring ebullient energy and exquisite skill to the John Drew Theater in East Hampton on Wednesday.

Mr. Jacobs and his partner, Barrett Felker, have performed worldwide, from the Lincoln Center Out of Doors festival to the Singapore Comedy Festival. Their fall schedule includes a stop at the Sagtikos Theater at Suffolk Community College in Brentwood on Nov. 14. On New Year‘s Eve, they are to perform at First Night in Worcester, Mass., and Providence, R.I.

”Imagine two people on the same piano,‘‘ Mr. Felker said of their intricate duet routines, in which the two gyrate around each other, swapping balls, hats and jokes back and forth. A stack of wooden blocks is exchanged from one pair of hands to another with bewildering yet remarkably cohesive percussive effect. Four hands jointly trade and manipulate five yellow balls with the joyful frenzy of a classic vaudeville act. Magic melds with lighthearted fun as Mr. Felker bounces five balls off the stage while the long-armed Mr. Jacobs becomes a supporting windmill, plucking objects out of the pattern and seamlessly replacing them in progressively more bizarre and unpredictable ways.

”With a classic juggling act, audiences lose sight of the fact that there‘s a person onstage because the performer is so proficient,‘‘ Mr. Felker said. Not so with the Gizmo Guys. At one point, Mr. Felker keeps five pink table-tennis balls aloft by spitting them into the air and catching them in his mouth; perhaps this is what gives him such a wide grin for the rest of the show. ”Notice the choreography,‘‘ Mr. Jacobs points out as they effortlessly flick Chinese devil sticks back and forth, circling each other in a dramatic configuration complete with grand plies, toe shuffles and well-orchestrated misdirection.

The partners joined forces in 1987, practicing up to seven hours a day on the Columbia University campus to hone their skills while sharpening their comic timing and interactive style at South Street Seaport on weekends. As individuals, each had already made the trek from street performers to world-class soloists in circuses, clubs and theaters.

”A street show could be 20 to 40 minutes, but I was always trying to get a full show,‘‘ Mr. Jacobs said in an interview at his Manhattan apartment. He won the International Jugglers Championship at the State University College at Purchase in 1983 and went on to perform with Slap Happy, a trio he created with the singer and songwriter Tommy Keegan and Brian O‘Conner of ”Shining Time Station‘‘ on PBS. After a successful run at the Other End, a club in Greenwich Village, and an appearance with John Candy on HBO‘s ”Young Comedians‘‘ special, the trio played the Charles Playhouse in Boston to great critical acclaim, then hit the college circuit. But he says longed to team up with another juggler, preferably one even better than himself.

Enter Mr. Felker, who started as a street performer in Boulder, Colo. There, he collaborated with the dancers and jugglers Kezia Tenenbaum and Peter Davison to win the 1980 International Team Juggling Championship as the Magnificent Material Movers. He touring with the Harlem Globetrotters for three years before teaming up with Jim Strinka as the Dynamotion Jugglers in the Big Apple Circus and Circus Krone from Germany. ”I did the classical acts, but I was still young enough to change,‘‘ he said of his exuberant solo career.

His character became more multifaceted, as did his skills, which now include the diabolo, or Chinese yo-yo, a prop that reached its zenith in 1910 as the Rubik‘s Cube of its time. Mr. Felker and Brian Dube, the legendary prop maker and publisher, recently published a diabolo how-to book, for novices and connoisseurs. In the Gizmo act, Mr. Felker spins two Swiss-made, hourglass-shaped diabolos on a string connected to two hand sticks. They loop around his legs and behind his back, popping up toward the ceiling at the flick of his wrist. With Mr. Jacobs, he has learned to find humor in the occasional mishaps inevitable in the gravity- dependent world of juggling.

Recalling his early days in comedy, Mr. Felker said, ”If something went wrong, I would say, ‘No, that‘s not funny, that‘s disastrous.‘‘ It took considerable coaching from the jocular Mr. Jacobs to achieve a metamorphosis. To cure the nine-object juggler of his serious approach, ”Allan yelled at me a lot, but I prefer to think of it as working together,‘‘ he said. ”We took our natural stage personas and exaggerated them.‘‘ In their trademark club-passing piece, which hinges on debatably choreographed comebacks and improvised asides, the Gizmo Guys keep up to nine clubs in motion until gravity picks them off and only one remains.

One of Mr. Jacobs‘s favorite solo pieces, ”The Shadow,‘‘ revolved around a film of his own shadow performing complexly choreographed variations while he juggled live in the foreground.

”I get nervous,‘‘ he admits, ”and with this piece I could go out and make a living alone, and not feel like I was alone. It was almost like being a ventriloquist.‘‘ At the octagonal John Drew Theater, loved by East Hampton residents and artists alike for its tent-shaped striped ceiling, chandelier of glass balloons and popular matinees, there will be no shadows, smoke or mirrors — only human virtuosity with a touch of lunacy.

The Gizmo Guys perform as part of Guild Hall‘s Kidfest on Wednesday at 3 and 5 P.M. in the John Drew Theater, 158 Main Street, East Hampton.

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IJA 2012: All Things Gravitational

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On the theory that jugglers always get tricks right on the third try, the IJA returned to the Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem, NC for the 65th annual festival, July 16-22, 2012. The virtually cataclysmic event spanned nationalities and generations as juggling history, know-how, and festive fun gave rise to a yearly bonanza only jugglers can create. From internationally renowned variety artist Freddy Kenton to ten-year-old team competitor Kento Tanioka, jugglers presented skillful delights and were treated to boundless opportunities to learn new techniques and swap theories on all things goofy and gravitational.

Fest Organizer plus much more, Matt Hall

Festival Director Matt Hall led a team that seemed tireless in its efforts to coordinate the massive juggle. Hall brought the North American Kendama Open, which he initiated in 2009, to the IJA again. He also performed some of his award-winning diabolo skills and MC’d the Xtreme juggling contest. Hall teaches Japanese in the real world and many attendees benefited from his translations. All of which translates into a better-run and more international festival, as many noted it was. Dina Scharnhorst victoriously coordinated a volunteer squad poised to catch things before they hit the ground.

At 74, Kenton has kept up the pattern by changing his act over the years. Billed as the oldest “still-working” juggler, there may be others but he can always grow into the role. As a teenager, he performed with his parents in the Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus and later toured his own act – featuring unusual skills like glass tower balances – in major variety theaters around Europe from London’s Palladium to the Moulin Rouge in Paris. This winter, he will perform at the Circus Festival in Belgium. His wife and touring partner accompanied him to the IJA. During the competitions, Kenton accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award for his performance career.

Freddy Kenton, Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, performing in the Cascade of Stars

The moment was officially recorded by Jay Ko, who can often be found operating an elevated video camera at all hours. Jackie “Mr. E” Erickson of the Philadelphia Juggling Club presented Ko with the Extraordinary Service Award on behalf of the IJA. Dave Finnigan, aka Professor Confidence, introduced Richard Kennison, the champion of “learning how to learn how to juggle,” and presented him with the Excellence in Education Award. This led into a disquisition on the “The Juggling Book” by Carlo, a classic for many in the audience.

Carlo’s acknowledged mentor, Hovey Burgess, attended the festival and passed clubs profusely with former IJA president Bill Barr. Martin Frost was named Honorary Lifetime Member for his many (to the power) tasks within the IJA, including computer de-bugging, newsletter publishing, column writing, generating new patterns with Stanford Juggling Research Institute, and winning a team silver medal in 2004. Frost has served nine years as the IJA’s Communications Director, and that’s what passing revolves around.

“I’m discovering new things,” he said onstage. “It’s just a creative world of passing.” Frost thanked everyone who had ever passed with him, including those not at the actual festival. If there is any experience in which the actual is expanded to other dimensions, it would be passing with the fabulous Frost.

“I’m laughing while I’m passing,” Frost concluded, though his difficult tricks are no laughing matter (or antimatter).

Juggling would be nothing short of medieval without the computer renaissance, it seems. Arthur Lewbel juggled a complex procedure designed to weigh different categories of technique and performance. After many years as Stage Championships Director, Craig Barnes passed the honor to Warren Hammond of the silver-medal winning duo, Smirk. While Hammond plans to compete again, he was determined this year to take on the challenge of directing. He kept his glow throughout.

“I don’t think the experience was harder than I expected,” he said afterwards. “I knew it would be a lot of work. What I was surprised about though was the time commitment.”

This included organizing preliminary as well as final events and working with a scoring system constantly undergoing refinements. One element Hammond introduced was written commentary from the finals judges in addition to numerical scores. Competitors seemed to appreciate hearing more about their routines and potential.

“Competing in the championships had always been a dream of mine, and one day I also wanted to run the championships to help give back to the community. I’ve been fortunate to be able to do both very early in my career and life as a juggler.” He credited Jeff Lutkus for being part of the teamwork behind the scenes and Dave Pawson for his help backstage. Hammond summed up:

David Ferman, bronze medal winner in Seniors

“Seeing how happy competitors were who won medals was wonderful. Likewise, seeing the competitors who didn’t medal, or didn’t place where they wanted to, resolve to come back next year and do even better was really inspiring.”

Coming back is what the Juniors Competition is all about. For instance, last year’s winner, David Ferman, competed in Seniors. The Juniors have gotten increasingly complex over the years and the juxtaposition of variety and technique created an intense debate over scoring, bringing up all the questions of art, entertainment, performance and craft. In the Team Competition, acts comprised innovative concepts, unexpected images and quirky comedy.

As an illustration of teamwork between competitors, juniors competitor Ethan Robison of Arkansas credited his juggling time with the Institute of Jugglology, a duo that has competed several times at the IJA. Robison impressed many with his pure connection to what he was doing and receptive, yet unforced, performance style. Balls, clubs, rings, unicycle, machetes on a rola bola, and an unusual prop stand rounded out his act. One could do worse than finish fourth in Juniors. At 11 years, he was up there with some of the best and promises a good combination of technique and entertaining artistry.

Ashley Ellis, bronze medal winner in Juniors

Finishing with a bronze medal in Juniors, Ashely Ellis created a new routine, “Cataclysm 2012,” to encompass her strong and creative club juggling. Starting with batons, as is her trademark, she worked with up to four and very effectively matched her juggleography to the music throughout. Club flourishes and marvelous maneuvers impressed the audience, now familiar with her work. She also performed a completely different and very lovely “Billy Rose” club routine in the Planting the Juggling Seed show the next morning.

Ellis described her experience in putting together the competition routine, which she had to work into her schedule as a 16-year-old community college student in Maryland. It was only after final exams that she started work on the Juniors act, filming a 2012-style opening that appeared on a big screen to set the stage. Ellis was particularly happy to qualify as she did not make the cut last year. An accomplished 5-club juggler, she said she had hoped for a better run at the end of her routine, but won the bronze nonetheless as the only individual female competitor in Juniors or Seniors. She has been pursuing acting and independent film-making and was looking forward to seeing her role in a TV broadcast on Investigation Discovery Channel.

Jack Denger, silver medal winner in Juniors

Juniors silver medalist Jack Denger put on a technical display that left jugglers gaping in amazement as his high tricks with numbers and complex variations were very difficult to do under pressure. The music matched his juggling nicely, but such an action-packed routine left him little time to make an impression on the audience as a performer.

While many thought he would win, the rules past and present favor a variety of presentation skills along with difficult and original tricks. However, Denger’s perfect routine was truly miraculous and earned a standing ovation. One got the sense that skill was the priority rather than performance values in which one downsizes the variations involved to connect with an audience and concept. Yet the routine was very well put together with music that was effective for Denger’s style and repertoire.

“Some jugglers like pop music but I’ve always enjoyed jazz,” he said. “The first time I competed, I didn’t realize how good I was for my age.” That was in Rochester, MN last year. “I probably could have tried harder things but I pulled back a little,” he said of that performance. His current routine seems to leave little to ambition, but since Rochester he’s modified his technical content to achieve cleaner results.

“I’ve been doing toned-down versions because I can’t afford to do something that difficult. My favorite competition routine I’ve seen was by Adam Kariotis in 1997. I’m not really a showman.” Still, he thinks he may want to pursue the goal of being a professional performer.

“I think it would be kind of nice,” he said, “I’ve definitely been thinking about it a lot. I think it would be a good job after I get out of college. I know I’ve got the skill for it.”

Denger turned 15 in June and attends high school in Indiana. He hopes to attend juggling festivals in St. Louis and Madfest in January and plans to remain a competitor in future.

Kellin Quinn, Juniors gold medalist

Art for art’s sake might have been the theme of the Juniors gold medal-winning act, framed by Kellin Quinn of St. Louis, MO. A routine conjuring the Belgian surrealist seemed to dovetail with the presence of Ea Eo at the IJA this year. Quinn is a disciple of Circus Harmony, a program founded by his mother, Jessica Hentoff. Last year he attended the IJA with a “juggle-ship” grant and performed in Planting the Juggling Seed; since then his skills and performing abilities have grown immensely. His calm visage allowed him to focus on the tricks without losing sight of the overall concept: Magritte meets manipulation. Afterwards, he seemed to take the honor in stride as the awareness of his achievement materialized. An artist is always on to the next project, and he said he was headed back to a contract of regular performances at City Circus Museum in St. Louis.

Mama Hentoff, an aerialist and original member of the Big Apple Circus and Circus Flora, rejoiced the night of the competition when Richard Kennison called Kellin to relay the news. Later she explained that Kellin and his brother, Keaton Hentoff-Killian, perform a very clever and popular act as The Awesome Brothers. Keaton just began training at L’Ecole Nationale de Cirque in Montreal, so Kellin now performs a solo show at City Museum most Fridays at 12 & 2 pm. He also performs with the St. Louis Arches on Saturdays at 1 & 3 pm and in the Circus Harmony Showcases on Sundays. He was just hired to do his juggling chef act for Circus Flora’s new dinner theater show starting in October. The Hentoffs frequently work at venues and events around the St. Louis area, and they were en route from one of these when Kellin recalled the events of the summer.

“The original idea was going to be a Rene Magritte act. I was thinking it would just be a giant picture frame.” But then, he discovered Renegade Juggling’s square rings. “I got those because I wanted to do something like a picture frame,” and so the piece opened with Kellin’s face framed by the square ring. Ultimately he juggled five of them. Since Magritte’s painting contains a hat, this concept naturally lead into a hat, apple and cane routine reminiscent of the gentleman jugglers of yore.

“When I first started juggling I watched a lot of Bobby May videos and that’s where I got most of the tricks,” he said, but the act also contained original variations.

“The last 3-club part at the end, I really enjoy doing… I love clubs the most. Most tricks don’t have names. I do a sequence where I hit the club with other clubs, then I throw up that club and hit it with another club, about seven different hits going around my body.” He also threw in different variations with “shoulder rolls, lego body rolls, and places and such.” Five clubs followed. There was also ball juggling, including seven balls atop a hand sculpture. Using three white balls & one red ball, the red ball went from one site swap position all the way to seven. This is not a pipe dream.

“I was not very calm on stage so I was glad I could pull it off. I was a little bit nervous so I was glad it all worked out,” Quinn said of the experience. Along the way he managed to catch some of the other acts.

“Jack was technically incredible and Ashley’s act was really well put together. I really liked Ethan’s act–Steampunk, a mixture of Victorian age technology.” When asked what may have made the difference for him, Quinn attributed his win to all the performing experience he gets with Circus Harmony. “Performing all the time is really what got me where I was performance wise. I learned 3 balls when I was about 4 or 5. I grew up in a circus family. I never really started working on it a lot until like two years ago.” He thinks he may compete again in the future.

Jerry Martin was an inspired choice to MC the Juniors. Some of his routines contained stories harkening back to his showbiz beginnings as an aspiring magician at 14. His humorous magic kept everyone entertained without hyping the energy beyond Minnesota standards of propriety. He came bearing postcards for his upcoming solo theater show at the Minnesota Fringe Festival: Professor Martin’s Museum of Eccentric Entertainments at The Playwright’s Center in Minneapolis.

Kikyo Brothers, leapfrogging for bronze in the Teams

The Kikyo Brothers, always an exciting duo to watch, repeated as team competitors and won the bronze medal. It seemed they could have placed higher with their clean technique and stage presence while doing very difficult passing. The silver medalists, Galen Harp and Ellen Winters, performing as the Institute of Jugglology since 2005, explore the frontiers of technical eccentricity with quirky and sometimes mystifying performance choices. Their mixed-object trade-offs and passing seemed to rate highly on the difficulty scale and the audience was always intrigued to see what would happen next.

Daniel Ledel and Dominik Herant lit up the stage with 5-ring trade-offs, light-synched clubs and awesomely precise duo juggling and passing (see full article here). The effect seemed to be what this team needed to highlight skills few can achieve. The audience was quite taken with the daring display and musical match-ups. One looks forward to future innovations and confabulations by this highly talented team. When the fun they have learning and creating top skills starts to shine through their performances, they will be all the more amazing to watch. Such skills do not come along too often in one juggler, let alone two.

Michael and Florian Canava lcompeting in the Teams

Another team showing good technique including 10-club passing came from Austria with a set including an electric cello. Michael and Florian Canaval are in the record books, but also pursue their art with dynamic performance concepts like the Mozart-turned-muzak theme. This approach should bring down the house for any international audience interested in popular entertainment mixed with amazing juggling.

In the individuals, Hammond had to make some tough choices from the start as the list of preliminary competitors was long. Judges do not know the cut-off or exactly how their scores will tabulate in relation to the final result. This year, the individuals in particular had a long list of submissions and a number of talented and professional jugglers did not make finals. One of these, Sam Malcolm, shared his experience of the process. He learned a lot on his professional path as both technical juggler and entertainer, and is now performing with Circus Zoppe.

The challenge to meld art and technique into an impressive whole proved fulfilling for those who made it to the championships stage. Many good ideas and difficult variations caught the eye if not the heart. One striking example was the return of past medalist Takashi Hagiwara. Using the music “Water Lilies,” the spectacle began with triangles spread on the stage in a lily shape and later seemed to take flight as a bird. This act is a recognizable favorite, but the overall effect this year could have been stronger to highlight the original props and ingenuity.

Peter Irish using four appendages in the Seniors

Peter Irish explored the chemistry of foot bagging and juggling to a table of elements soundtrack. Some of the difficulty included cascading three bags with his feet while juggling 5 balls. Irish, based in Colorado, won the Boulder Circus Arts Award in June and performs a full show with an accomplished poi spinner, Ambree Zuba. Akira Fukagawa flowed through one of his multiple-diabolo routines (up to four on a string) with skill and artistic expression. Fukagawa, last year’s silver medalist, always performs with great artistry, creativity, and intense diabolo technique. One always looks forward to seeing his uniquely expressive routines. An enthusiastic Japanese contingent attended the IJA, and many were keyed up for the Japan Juggling Festival, Oct. 6-8, in Tokyo. Team numbers medallist Jack Levy stayed in shape to achieve an athletic club and ball set as an Individual. If this type of energetic technical juggling gets with an artistic theme it can be really successful.

Niels Duinker of Holland took the stage with charisma and confidence, starting with an exuberant 5-ball opening including 3-high half pirouettes. Classic 3-club tricks kept traditional juggling alive in the cutting edge world of competition juggling. The audience cheered him on as he attempted a seven-club run, which he regularly performs, the only one in the competition. Duinker won a gold medal in the 2009 Taiwan Circus Festival and was named Variety Act of the Year by the International Society of Magicians. A three-time Dutch national juggling champion, Duinker serves as the European representative of the IJA. He is currently working aboard cruise ships and touring variety theaters around Europe. A new commercial he juggles in will air on the Netherlands’ public transit system and can also be found online.

David Ferman won the bronze medal with his smile and command of technical feats. The routine covered the stage and came across as a cohesive whole, though without changes in style or atmosphere. Highlights included a neck catch from 7 balls, Albert throws, and a joyful 5-club fling. Ferman works as a professional entertainer in Jacksonville, FL. He is one of the more consistent performers, and his unpretentious though athletic style is always exciting.

Thom Wall earning silver in Seniors

Club jugglers are said to have an advantage at the IJA, but it does not always work out this way. Thom Wall had his hands full as an IJA board member, synching events and ideas throughout the year. He put together his competition routine while training at the New England School for Circus Arts. Part modern dance, part site swap, and part fiesta, the intriguing and original romp took ball juggling to the edge. The many subtleties and comedically abstract moments were picked up by the audience. A surprise deluge of balls onto the stage gave the act a larger-than-life element difficult to achieve in routines in a large setting. Even a sound glitch in the beginning seemed to add to the sense of disorientation and discovery. Wall was thrilled to win a silver medal. He departed later that night to return to his summer gig at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. Check out his trick-of-the-day posts online, which have been a highlight of the cyber networking scene.

Gold medalist, Etoh Satoshi, in the Seniors

If there were a “God particle” present, it would most likely have been found in one of Satoshi Etoh’s beanbags. Juggling in confident yet unassuming style, to a selection of classical pieces, Etoh explored numbers variations with crossovers, multiplexes, and site swap. Beginning on one knee, with beanbags spread at intervals all around, Etoh came to life as the haunting musical opening began. The piece by Offenbach seemed to mirror the symmetry of the juggling patterns. Seven-ball columns and cross-overs into a cascade and back formed a highlight. For such a technical juggler, Etoh felt outnumbered, but this may have given rise to some creative risk-taking:

“In IJA, I felt my technical lack. So, I kept a careful routine not to miss in the first music. I intended to do only skills I’m proud of. I wanted to make the audience laugh, so I used the music of the athletic meet of Japan.” As Etoh changed shoes and warmed up, the music devolved into the Can Can, the audience clapping him along on cue. A spritely five-ball shower with under-the-leg throws and multiplex towers lead to a kick-up flash of nine balls. Jugglers were delighted to be drawn into the spontaneity of the moment, and perhaps Etoh himself was surprised by the outcome. He has been working as a professional juggler in Japan and has performed at such events as the Yahata Street Performance Festival, the Shime Street Performance Festival, and the Crown Plaza Hotel’s dinner show. As for what he might want to do with his juggling in the future, Etoh said he wanted to focus on using his skills to let people smile: “I want to give people of the world energy or passion. I want to improve the position of jugglers in Japan.” Another Lucas Cup might do the trick for Japan as this gold medallist travels home.

Albert Lucas has accomplished a lot to improve the position of jugglers. He emerged onto the stage unheralded to present the new and improved award he won in 1984. Winston-Salem was his first IJA since Redding, PA in 2002 and IJA members were very excited to see him. He brought his wife, a creative individual, and competed in many events. Said Stage Championships Director Hammond of Lucas’ participation, “To have him backstage, helping each competitor get in the right frame of mind to compete was priceless. He’s been an inspiration to so many, myself included, and just his presence can have a profound impact.”

Like the competitions, the Cascade of Stars was much anticipated this year. As usual, the audience provided the pre-show as balloons were sculpted, tossed and batted around the Stevens Center. During this time, four jugglers sat on stage looking surly and disinterested in the proceedings. A few heavily used clubs stood nearby. This behavior continued until well after the recorded announcement prohibiting every electronic device save chainsaws, leaf-blowers, and dust-busters. As the audience caught onto the fact that there was a performance in progress, a sophisticated game of patty-cake ensued. The casually dressed quartet became extraordinarily friendly with each other. Musical chairs without music and other forms of comedic mischief gave rise to laughter and applause. A rule-book was read regarding public places in North Carolina. Since the performers hail from France and Belgium, we were all equally enlightened save perhaps transplant Dan Menendez and Winston-Salem native Keith Nelson.

Cie Ea Eo (Jordaan, Sander, Bram, and Eric) in the Cascade of Stars

Cie Ea Eo of Belgium soon got cracking with a unique form of club manipulation in which a popular workshop was taught earlier in the week. Further funny filler ranged from coordinated antics with hooded sweatshirts to scantily clad human stunts. The oohs began as numerous red balls were put into play. “It was beyond good,” Warren Hammond said of the combination of skills and relationships inherent in the piece, a one-hour rendition of the full show. As the group fanned out to create geometric forms, balls were exchanged baseball-style (why didn’t the Americans think of it?) as the variations grew more complex and combined with solo feats like a high six-ball pattern. Eventually the piece went verbal in opaque yet somehow understandable ways that engaged the audience. By the end, the shirts were very sweaty as it is clear these manipulators put their all into each performance. They even told us what not to say: “You’re a juggler. So seriously, what’s your real job?”

Updates on the various activities of the cast, Eric Longequel, Jordaan De Cuyper, Sander De Cuyper, and Bram Dobbelaere, including a performance calendar with venues around Europe, can be found at http://www.cieeaeo.com/en/ Next stop: St. Petersburg, Russia.

Doug Sayers’ flying in the Cascade of Stars

Keith Nelson dressed up to MC the second half of show. He dedicated the Cascade of Stars to Robert Nelson, alias Butterfly Man. Perhaps appropriately, a graffiti artist followed as Doug Sayers reprised his gold-medal winning act from the Winston-Salem IJA fest a few years ago. He is clearly getting younger and probably having more fun. Sayers, also a former team champion, swept many of the numbers events this year. One can’t help mentioning the five-high pirouette into continuous shoulder throws with the famous beanbags his mother, Cheryl Sayers, has developed as a cottage industry in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. And, yes, he jumped between the boxes, an action-photographer’s dream. Otherwise, how would we know we were in Winston-Salem? Maybe Sayers will cook up something new to perform on the Open Stage at next year’s IJA in Bowling Green, OH.

Upon Nelson’s return, he recounted being in the Stevens Center as a kid to see the Nutcracker, though he claimed the mud show was a greater influence. Top-spinning completed the turn.

Kevin Axtell of California, part mime, part illusionist, part motion artist, kept clubs moving like the hands of an illusory clock. His combination of Asian-based choreography with eclectic music was one of the treats of the fest. This is one of the more in-depth routines with one-two-three clubs since former gold medallist Allan Jacobs competed with his innovative routine at the 1983 IJA in Purchase, NY.

Ashley Ellis wore the best dress of the fest as she presented the Flamingo Award to encourage a young female juggler: 14-year-old Delany Bayles, who began last September and is already flashing seven balls. Selected by the Flamingo Club, which met throughout the week to discuss the state of women who juggle and those who don’t, she received clubs and an assortment of prizes. Eric Longequel of Ea Eo returned and suavely spun a diabolo and entertained en mime. A mini-suicide off a horizontal handstick was appreciated, as was an elbow-bump. What followed can only be appreciated by ordering the DVD. Suffice it to say, the audience was engaged and Longequel acted like he could be.

Freddy Kenton, Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, added more than a touch of vaudeville class, including a balloon-burst balance on a knife, hip pockets, billiard cues with double ball balance, a lovely assistant, and other career classics. Where else can you see a string instrument played on a mouth-held bow balancing a glass tower on a ball to the Malaguana? Credit must be given to the tech crew for a very pretty cyclorama. The last stunt was a celebration of vaudeville lunacy and it was a treat to see this renowned act in a more spontaneous setting where their techniques could be appreciated by jugglers.

Nelson returned to swallow a giant scissors among other feats of sharpness and acuity. Ryan Mellors of the Ministry of Manipulation entered with a hoop that seemed to lead him around and even bounce. Mellors taught a workshop in isolations, bridging the gap between juggling and hooping. He also performed as a mild-mannered character with three clubs, always keeping his body connected to the playful moves and club poses. 4-ring rotations were coolly hypnotic to the final flop-down. This led naturally into Nelson’s explanation of Canadian arts funding. The connection of funding to performance was highlighted by a monetarily compensated volunteer.

Pavel Evsukevich bouncing a ball on his head while juggling 4 more

Technique and performance are the forces behind Pavel Evsukevich’s work, and from the first moment, he was great to watch as the piece progressed from single ball spinning to numbers with a head bounce. A lyrical five ring progression soared through moves like half pirouettes, site swaps, and a magnificent shower with turned-out throws. The audience roared as an overhead kick-up out of seven rings came off flawlessly. After returning to Russia for a few weeks, he wrote from a circus festival in Germany:

“One of my dreams was to come to the IJA. I knew it is the best place for jugglers, people so open for you and so friendly. I saw it’s like a big family, level of juggling very high, lots of amazing jugglers. A lot of competition and workshops, shops where you can buy props for juggling, most interesting shows in the world, wonderful theater and conditions, awesome audience, very friendly people, and a huge place for the convention. I did workshops, a few competitions, and the Gala show. I hope jugglers got some new and helpful tips from my workshop. The gala show was interesting, with a lot of good performers. Thanks to all who made this amazing event, especially Matt Hall!”

Riga Moettus joggling with 5 balls

Some records were broken in joggling races, with Albert Lucas, Jack Denger, and Maggie Armstrong winning multiple events. Sizzling energy marked the Xtreme event, created by Jack Kalvan of Clockwork. His clockmate, Rick Rubenstein (the one with the “Revenge”) MC’d the Individual and Team competitions with prescient humor and trivia. Festival organizer Matt Hall played sports announcer for the Xtreme contest; Hall also performed diabolo and untangled more than a few errant strings to benefit the membership. Kim Laird announced her last season leading the IJA board of directors; she will serve as Festival Director of the 2013 IJA Festival in Bowling Green, OH. Erin Stephens of Salt Fire Circus, also on the board, kept projects and objects afloat.

The list of workshops was nothing short of awe-inspiring. Workshop Director Dave Pawson reported racking up over 100 offerings before the week was through. Many workshop leaders submitted handouts for an archive of such materials, a good resource however it is made available. Funky Club Manipulation and Risky Club Balancing (De Cuyper) and How to Find Movement in Juggling Without Using Dance (Longequel) expanded the capabilities of many. Longequel, who said he does not normally teach this, paired jugglers and asked them to link trade-offs to create new positioning.

Shea Freelove presented a History of American Circus and another on Sideshow. Kevin Axtell offered Shapeshifting and Steve Langley of the Fettuccini Brothers hat manipulation. Michael Falkov presented Mazes, Noel Yee took jugglers through poi techniques, Gypsy Goeff taught object balancing, and Chris Hodge shared slamming variations. The four-ball bounce workshop was a highlight, showing not only what the moves were but how to change your grip and positioning to accomplish them. Contact club manipulation also grooved along with “notorious fishtails” explained.

Keith Nelson of Bindlestiff Family Circus co-produced the Renegade shows with MC Mark Hayward and Slammin Andy of the Carmine Street Irregulars. Acts ranged from peculiar puppetry, to chair balancing, to a love song cabaret. Shea Freelove of Arcata, CA and Periko of Chile, members of the Freedom Family Circus, honed their late-night sketches for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. Periko defied the odds by bouncing objects off the wheel of a tall unicycle while riding it with machetes. He described the growing abundance of juggling and circus talent in South America, where the IJA is planning events and competitions (See IRC Chile and IRC Brazil). The Great American Bob Nickerson could not resist the stage, nor could the Passing Zone, Jon Wee and Owen Morse of California. Among the night owls was Viveca Gardiner of Playful Productions in NYC. She published a daily newsletter packed with humor and info for festival goers including the results below.

The endurance games offered an obscure trial called “fewest throws with three objects.” Winner Andrew Ruiz claimed mastery of this. Ted Joblin can add one-diabolo infinite suicide endurance to his resume. Doug Sayers, whose medals in numbers are themselves reaching epic heights, won the seven-ball and five-ring endurance. Shortly after the IJA, he became the WJF champion. Jack Denger was voted the People’s Choice trophy as jugglers put “Rastelli bucks” in a hat. He also won five-ball endurance. Adam Kuchler took the cigar box takeout speed race and Dylan Waickman nabbed the one-devil stick propeller endurance. Record setters Florian and Michael Canaval won club-passing endurance.

Next year the IJA will take a break from Winston-Salem and convention centers in general, and will return to a university setting. Registration will begin early at juggle.org with discounts offered and camping available (sign up in advance). Facilities are said to be good and new events are planned such as an Open Stage for new work. The Youth Showcase, which included everything from a piano to the Hunchback of Notre Dame, plans to return.

Until then, thanks to the many jugglers who contributed prestidigitation and pulchritude beyond the reach of this story. To you especially belongs the glory of all things gravitational.

Here are the full results of the games and competitions. And also joggling results.

Special thanks to Emory Kimbrough for the photos. See his gallery for many more… for many more…

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