Juggling Totally Explained

Everything about Jugglers totally explained

Juggling is a physical skill involving the manipulation of various types of objects in various ways (see object manipulation). The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling, where the juggler throws objects through the air. Jugglers often refer to the objects they juggle as props. The most common props are balls, beanbags, rings, clubs, and bouncing balls. Some performers use apparently dangerous objects such as chainsaws, knives and fire torches, though in the hands of a skilled performer, using the correct equipment, these items are probably far less dangerous than they appear. The term juggling can also refer to other prop-based circus skills such as diabolo, devil sticks, poi, cigar box manipulation, fire-dancing, contact juggling, hooping and hat manipulation. The word juggling derives from the Middle English jogelen to entertain by performing tricks, in turn from the French jongleur and the Old French jogler. There is also the Late Latin form joculare of Latin joculari, meaning to jest.

Origins and history

Ancient to 20th century

The earliest record of juggling, a panel from the 15th Beni Hassan tomb of an unknown prince, shows female dancers and acrobats throwing balls. Juggling has also been recorded in most other early civilizations including Chinese, Indian, Greek, Aztec (Mexico) and Polynesian civilizations.
   In Europe, juggling was an acceptable diversion until the decline of the Roman Empire, after which it fell into disgrace. Throughout the Middle Ages most histories were written by religious clerics who frowned upon the type of performers who juggled, called 'gleemen', accusing them of base morals or even practicing witchcraft. Jugglers in this era would only perform in marketplaces, streets, fairs or drinking houses. They would perform short, humorous and bawdy acts and pass a hat or bag among the audience for tips. Some kings' and noblemen’s bards, fools, or jesters would have been able to juggle or perform acrobatics, though their main skills would have been oral (poetry, music, comedy and storytelling).
   In 1768 Philip Astley opened the first modern circus. A few years later he employed jugglers to perform acts along with the horse and clown acts. From then until the modern day, jugglers have been associated with circuses.
   In the 19th century variety and music hall theatres became more popular, and jugglers were in demand to fill time between music acts, performing in front of the curtain while sets were changed. Performers started specializing in juggling, separating it from other kinds of performance such as sword swallowing and magic. The Gentleman Juggler style was established by German jugglers such as Salerno and Kara. Rubber processing developed, and jugglers started using rubber balls. Previously juggling balls were made from balls of twine, stuffed leather bags, wooden spheres or various metals. Solid or inflatable rubber balls meant that bounce juggling was possible. Inflated rubber balls made ball spinning easier and more readily accessible. Soon in North America, vaudeville theatres employed jugglers, often hiring European performers.

20th Century - Birth of a hobby

motion picture theatres, radio and television, and juggling suffered as a result. Music and comedy transferred very easily to radio but juggling, an inherently visual form of entertainment, did not. In the early years of TV, when variety-style programming was very popular, jugglers were often featured. But developing a new act for each new show, week after week, was more difficult for jugglers than other types of entertainers - comedians and musicians can pay others to write their material but jugglers can’t get other people to learn new skills on their behalf.
   In the early 1950s, more people began juggling as a hobby. The International Jugglers' Association began as a club for performing jugglers, but soon non-performers joined and started attending the annual conventions. The 61st Annual IJA Juggling Festival will be held July 14-20, 2008, in Lexington, Kentucky, at the Lexington Convention Center.
   World Juggling Day was created as an annual day of recognition for the hobby, with the intent to teach people how to juggle, to promote juggling or for jugglers to get together and celebrate. Traditionally held on a Saturday in June, the date for 2008 is June 14th (in 2007 it was June 16).
   Most cities and large towns now have juggling clubs. These are often based within, or connected to, universities and colleges. There are also community circus groups that teach young people and put on shows. The Internet Juggling Database

maintains a searchable database of most juggling clubs.
Since the 1980s a full juggling subculture has developed. The scene revolves around local clubs and organizations, special events, shows, magazines, web sites, internet forums and, possibly most importantly, juggling conventions. In recent years there has also been a growing focus on juggling competitions. Juggling conventions form the backbone of the juggling scene, regularly bringing together jugglers from a wide area. The focus of most juggling conventions is the main hall: a large space for open juggling. There will also be more formal workshops in which expert jugglers will work with small groups on specific skills and techniques. Most juggling conventions also include a main show (open to the general public), competitions and juggling games. The Internet Juggling Database

maintains a searchable database of past and upcoming juggling festivals and events.

Popular forms of juggling

Juggling can be categorised by various criteria:

Objects juggled : Hence, there's ball juggling, club juggling and rings, as well as diabolo, devil sticks and cigar box manipulation. Handkerchiefs are another popular object, as are chainsaws, knives and flaming torches. Really, almost anything can be juggled and hence this category in only limited by practical concerns about size in particular.

Method of juggling : Again this is a very open category. The classical and best known form, involving throwing and catching objects in the air without touching the ground, is toss juggling. Bounce juggling involves objects (usually balls) deliberately bounced off the ground. Contact juggling involves manipulating the object in constant contact with the body.

Performance style : This may include the gentleman juggler - using everyday objects such as hats, canes, plates, wine bottles and cigars; comedy Juggling - the juggling skill is secondary to the comic character and jokes of the performer; sport themed - the performers dress in sporting attire and juggle sports equipment such as tennis rackets, footballs, or even snooker balls; traditional circus style - presenting pure skill with precision, skill and panache. Cultural extensions of the traditional circus style include: Chinese circus - using mainly rings and badminton rackets, fantastic costumes, concentrating on numbers juggling; Russian folk - colourful costumes and characters, unique props with acrobatics.

Number of objects juggled : There is a common distinction made in juggling between trick juggling and numbers juggling. In trick juggling, the main aim is to perform exceptionally skillful and impressive manipulations with the objects juggled. Numbers juggling, by contrast, has the single-minded goal of juggling as many objects as possible.

Number of jugglers : Juggling is most commonly performed by an individual. However, multiple-person juggling is also frequently performed by two or more people. The essence of this kind is that some method of passing between the jugglers is used - this can be through the air (as in toss juggling), bounced off the ground, simply handed over, or numerous other ways depending on the objects and the style of juggling. For example, two club jugglers may stand facing each other, each juggling a 3-club pattern themselves, but then simultaneously passing between each other at preset timings. Back to back juggling is also possible, as are various other configurations. The object, method, style and number of jugglers can be quite fluid. For example, a single juggler could be juggling several different objects (say a ball, a club and an orange), could start by toss juggling them, then start bouncing the ball as part of the routine, and finally start passing the objects between themselves and a second juggler.

Juggling world records

Many juggling world records are tracked by the Juggling Information Service Committee on Numbers Juggling (JISCON). All the records listed on the JISCON page represent the longest runs with each number and prop that has been authenticated using video evidence. As of September 2006, the top records for each prop are:

Rings/Plates: 13 rings for 13 catches by Albert Lucas in 2002.
Balls/Beanbags: 12 beanbags for 12 catches, first done by Bruce Sarafian in 1996.
Clubs/Sticks: 9 sticks for 9 catches, first done by Bruce Tiemann in 1996.

Each of these records is what is known as a "flash", meaning each prop is thrown and caught only once. Some jugglers, and some juggling competitions, don't consider a flash to be "real juggling" and use "qualifying juggle" (a term taken from the International Jugglers' Association's Numbers Competition) to denote a pattern where each prop is thrown and caught at least twice. The JISCON records for qualifying runs are:

Rings: 10 rings for 64 catches by Anthony Gatto in 2005.

Balls: 10 beanbags for 23 catches by Bruce Sarafian in 2001.

Clubs: 8 clubs for 16 catches by Anthony Gatto in 2006.

Venues

Circus

Wherever there are circuses, there are jugglers, though usually only one or two jugglers per circus. This means that only the best, most advanced jugglers perform in traditional and established circuses. Many circus jugglers are from Russia and other Soviet block states, products of very prestigious circus schools. Other traditions are represented, such as Chinese acrobatics schools, and traditional circus families that are often Latin American or European. Some of the greatest jugglers from the past 50 years are from Eastern Europe, including Sergei Ignatov, Evgenij Biljauer and Viktor Kee (featured in Cirque du Soleil productions). Clowns would often dress up and perform this art with several objects ranging from bouncy balls to scarves.

Variety Theatres

Variety theatres still do business in Europe, particularly in Germany. In North America the closest thing to variety shows are in casinos, in places like Las Vegas, where jugglers perform alongside singers, comedians and others. As with circuses, the demand for jugglers to perform in variety theatres and casinos is far lower than jugglers seeking work, meaning only the best, most dynamic performers find regular work in the top venues. Germany and the USA have also produced some of the greatest jugglers from the past 50 years, most notably Francis Brunn from Germany and Anthony Gatto from the United States.

Renaissance and Medieval Fairs

Renaissance and medieval fairs in North America and in Europe can also offer short-term performance venues for professional jugglers. With the increasing popularity of such venues (and with the continued success of Medieval/Renaissance themed restaurants) the ancient art of juggling finds a home.

Street Performance

In some places, especially tourist destinations such as Spain, Cyprus, and London, you can find entertainers performing on the street (busking). Street performers often include juggling and comedy in their shows. The most famous locations for this kind of street performance include Covent Garden in London, and Faneuil Hall in Boston.

Juggling notation systems

Diagram-based notations are the clearest way to show juggling patterns on paper, but as they're based on images, their use is limited in text based communication (email and the internet). Ladder Diagrams track the path of all the props through time, where the less complicated Causal Diagrams only track the props that are in the air, and assumes that a juggle has a prop in each hand. Numeric based notation systems are more popular and standardized than diagram-based notations. They are used extensively in both a written form, and for those "fluent" in juggle-speak, in normal conversation. Siteswap is by far the most common juggling notation. In its most basic form, vanilla siteswap, it's very easy to use, as each pattern is reduced to a simple sequence of numbers, such as "3", "97531" or "744". However, vanilla siteswap can only notate the most basic alternating two-handed patterns, with no deviations from a very strict set of rules. If one of these rules is broken, say an extra hand is added, the same string of numbers will result in a wildly different pattern than first conceived. For slightly more complicated patterns, extra rules and syntax are added to create synchronous siteswap, to notate patterns where both hands throw at the same time, and multiplex siteswap, to notate patterns where one hand holds or throws two balls on the same beat. Other extensions to siteswap have been developed for specific purposes, including passing siteswap, Multi-Hand Notation (MHN), and General Siteswap (GS). Beatmap is a relatively new numeric notation which can notate any number of hands or juggling prop, and in any rhythm,with no added complexity to its basic structure. Within beatmap it's also possible and easy to notate not only the balls in a pattern, but also the hands or arms of the juggler, as well as the position, location or orientation of the body of a juggler. Luke Burrage, the inventor of beatmap, claims that beatmap can more accurately describe more patterns than all ladder diagrams, causal diagrams, mills mess state transition diagrams, vanilla siteswap, synch siteswap, passing siteswap and multi-hand notation combined. So far use of beatmap is very limited, as most jugglers and all juggling software understand only variations of siteswap.

Further Information

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