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IJA Stage Championships
Official Rules
October 2000
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Table of Contents
Championships Director: Craig Barnes
The IJA stage juggling competitions are held every year during the IJA's
large annual Summer juggling festival. Tickets for the final round of
competitions will be sold to the public. The time and place of the
preliminary and final rounds of competitions will be announced at the IJA
festival. Preliminary rounds are not open to the public.
PRIZES: In recent past competitions, $3950 in prize money has been awarded
as described below. The exact amount of prize money offered this year will
likely be the same. Additional prizes may also be awarded. Winners will
also be presented with medals, and the name of the Individuals Gold medal
winner will be inscribed on the IJA trophy.
INDIVIDUALS TEAMS JUNIORS
1st place (Gold) $1000 $1000 $250
2nd place (Silver) 500 500 125
3rd place (Bronze) 250 250 75
To enter the stage juggling competitions you must
register sometime during the first two days of the festival. Entry fees are
$10 for each event, which must be paid at the time of registration (for
teams, this is $10 per team, not $10 per team member).
The IJA stage competitions consist of three events: 1. The
Individuals, for solo juggling routines, 2. The Teams, for routines involving
two or more jugglers, and 3. The Juniors, for solo juggling routines by
jugglers under 18 years old.
IJA competitions are open to all, regardless of race,
nationality, sex, sexual orientation, age, etc.,. The only exception is that
entrants in the Juniors event must be under 18 years old, and have not
qualified for or competed in the Individuals event in past IJA competitions.
No one may enter both the Individuals and Juniors event in the same year. No
one person may enter as a member of more than one team in any year.
People are allowed to compete in the same year both as a member of a team and
as a Junior or Individuals entrant. Entrants should join the IJA if they are
not already members.
All juniors performances must be under 7 minutes long. All
Individuals and teams performance must be under 8 minutes long.
Stage juggling routines are judged on the basis of juggling
technique and (to a slightly lesser extent) performance attributes. Technique
measures the degree of difficulty and risk of drops of juggling tricks, and
the variety, originality, and execution of the juggling. Performance measures
how well the competitor's presentation enhances the juggling. Performance
attributes include stage presentation, characterization, routining,
choreography, costume, music, voice, or other accompaniment, and overall
artistry.
Note: This document describes only the IJA stage competitions.
Other IJA sponsored competitions include Numbers Juggling competitions
and Joggling races, which are run by different directors.
Founded in 1947, the International Jugglers' Association (IJA) is a non-profit,
tax-exempt corporation uniquely dedicated to the advancement and promotion of
juggling worldwide. The membership of the IJA is a blend of professionals,
hobbyists, prop designers, athletes and beginning jugglers. The IJA is
pledged to "render assistance to fellow jugglers, and to provide education
and services to all who share a love of juggling."
The IJA Championships are held annually at the IJA's Annual Festival, and
provide an opportunity for jugglers to compete in stage presentations,
numbers juggling, and joggling. Though there are circus and variety
competitions where jugglers can compete, measured against varied disciplines
in the entertainment arts, the IJA Championships are the only competitions in
the world focused exclusively on the art and sport of juggling. Rules are
drafted by the Championships Committee and are submitted to the IJA Board of
Directors for approval.
The IJA Championships are serious performance and athletic presentations for
the advancement of professional juggling and are not a forum for
demonstrations, sales promotions, practical jokes or political statements.
The goals of the IJA Championships are:
- To increase the overall quality of juggling.
- To recognize, reward, and encourage excellence in juggling.
- To provide inspiration and role models for future generations of jugglers.
- To increase enthusiasm for juggling as both a sport and an art.
- To increase the visibility of and respect for jugglers in the world at large.
To enter the stage juggling competitions you must register at the
Championships table during the Juggling Festival. Registrations for stage
events is generally only open for the first two days of the festival.
All entry fees must be paid at the time of registration. Names of stage event
registrants will NOT be released to the public or to other entrants until after
registration is closed.
All competitors must sign the IJA championships video release and liability
waiver at the time of registration, and will not be allowed to compete
without having signed the waiver. Competitors under age 18 must have a parent
or guardian sign for them.
Payment of entry fees only entitles a competitor to enter the preliminaries.
No additional fee is charged for those who advance to the finals. All fees
are non refundable. Competitors should be IJA members. Any money winners who
are found to not be members may have membership fees deducted from their
prize.
Individuals, Teams, and Juniors
The IJA Stage Championships are for the presentation of juggling as both a
skill and an art. The choice of props and the style of manipulation is
unlimited, but the focus of the act must be juggling. Juggling is generally
defined as keeping one or more objects in motion by tossing, catching, or
carrying, or balancing objects precariously. Other skills, such as
acrobatics, singing, dancing, unicycling, joke telling, magic, mime,
musicianship etc. will be counted in so far as they directly enhance the
overall performance aspect of the routine or to the extent to which these
non-juggling skills, when combined with juggling, increase the difficulty or
riskiness of the juggling.
Competitors are to have a prepared, polished juggling routine, running within
the time limits of the competition, with few drops.
Competitors are expected to behave in a professional manner, and to inform
the Championships Director beforehand of any unusual demands or problems with
a routine. Professional practices include knowing the rules, abiding by the
schedule, being on time for all registrations, preliminaries, rehearsals,
performances and awards ceremonies, respecting the rights of others and
conducting oneself in a gracious manner.
The Championships Staff is appointed by and serves at the discretion of the
Board of Directors of the IJA. All concerns and questions of consequence
regarding a specific preliminary or finals event should be addressed to the
Championships Director or to an individual designated by the Championships
Director, and not to an individual judge or other IJA Staff person. Decisions
of the Championships Director in all matters regarding the championships are
final.
In the event that any rule listed here is violated, either by a competitor or
by any one else associated with the competitions, the appropriate action to
be taken will be decided exclusively by the Championships Director. The
Championships Director will also decide the outcome of any dispute that may
arise concerning either interpretation of these rules or circumstances that
may arise that are not covered by these rules. Decisions of the Championships
Director in these matters are final.
A competitor may be disqualified by the Championships Director if they fail
to abide by these rules, perform in a manner that jeopardizes the safety of
the audience or staff, compromises the professional standards of the
championships, or performs material that is judged to be dangerous, obscene,
profane, overtly political, or offensive to a typical family audience (if the
act were a movie it should be G rated). Harassment of other competitors or
any other behavior that is rude, inappropriate, or materially affects the
operation of the competitions in an adverse way will be considered grounds
for disqualification. The IJA Board of Directors will review all incidents of
this nature, and may recommend further disciplinary action.
Judges are selected by the Championships Director from the membership of the
IJA. Judges are selected for their knowledge of the skill and art of stage
performance juggling and for their familiarity with IJA juggling
competitions. Judges need not be professional jugglers, but may be
historians, coaches, prop makers or in other ways intimately acquainted with
juggling. Judges may not be "celebrity guests" or honorees. Judges may not
have a personal relationship with any competitor that would prejudice their
decision.
Preliminary events will have three judges. Finals will have five judges.
One judge in each event will be designated as the head judge. The head judge
moderates the judges discussion, and resolves ties and disputes among judges.
Preliminary competitions for stage events will be held to determine the
running order of the finals, to limit the number of finalists if necessary,
and most importantly, to ensure that all finalists have acts that display a
sufficiently high level of quality and professionalism, as defined by the
judging criteria described below.
Either the Championships Director or a moderator designated by the
Championships Director will be present during the preliminaries to resolve
any problems that may arise. The Championships Director, moderator, or
preliminary judges can stop a preliminary performance at any time, though a
good reason should be provided for doing so.
Everyone entering a competition must go through preliminaries, even past
event winners. Each competitor is judged solely on the basis of their routine
and performance, and is not based on past successes or failures. It is
possible for even a past gold medal winner to have a routine this time that,
for whatever reason, is judged to be inadequate for the finals. Regardless of
how good a juggler someone is known to be, the purpose of the preliminaries
is to judge routines, not people.
A mandatory meeting of competitors will be conducted by the Championships
Director after registration closes and before the preliminary competitions
are held to answer questions and discuss procedures. All competitors must
attend this meeting. A hat draw conducted at this time will determine the
running order of the preliminaries. Competitors are expected to be on time
and ready to perform. Lateness for the preliminaries will be considered
grounds for disqualification.
Preliminaries will be judged using the same criteria as the finals. During
and immediately following the preliminary round the preliminary judges will
decide which acts qualify for the finals. The list of finalists will be
posted publicly.
The preliminary judges are asked to be able to tell any non-finalist, upon
request of that competitor, what aspects of their act could be improved to
bring their work up to competition standards. Finalists will not be given any
critique or feedback by any judge until after the final competition event,
and then only at the request of the competitor.
In rare cases, the preliminary judges may choose to qualify an entrant for an
event other than the one entered. For example, the judges may decide that a
Juniors entrant had a sufficiently good routine to qualify for the
Individuals event.
Competitors must perform the same (or nearly the same) routine in the
preliminary and final rounds.
Preliminaries are not open to the public. Preliminaries are closed to all
spectators, including all family members and other competitors. Each
competitor is permitted to bring up to two prop assistants as described
below.
Judges may, at their discretion, choose to qualify an act for the finals that
violates competition rules, provided that the routine can be edited with
little change for the finals to bring it in compliance of the rules. For
example, the judges might qualify an act that is slightly too long if it can
be shortened with little change. Similarly, a routine that is significantly
affected by the actions of prop assistants may be qualified if the role of
the assistants can be easily reduced.
Competitors who advance to the finals must attend rehearsal to review all
procedures and inspect the performance space.
Competitors must make their technical requirements, such as sound and light
cues, known to the Championships Director, who will be responsible for
communication with the IJA stage competitions Producer and Stage Manager.
The competitor is solely responsible for any errors resulting from a lack of
communication with the Championships Director or staff, including errors that
interfere with the competitors performance and/or adversely affect the
judging of that competitors routine.
At the same time that preliminary judges choose which acts qualify for the
finals, they will also determine the running order of the finals. The running
order will be made public at the same time that the list of finalists is
announced.
Due to insurance requirements and to ensure professionalism absolutely NO ONE
is allowed back stage during technical set up, tech rehearsal, dress
rehearsal, final performance or post performance except competitors, their
assistants, IJA Championships Staff, production staff, site technicians,
performers and other authorized personnel. Security passes are required for
all personnel permitted backstage.
A competitor may have up to two prop assistants. If a competitor requires
prop assistants and cannot provide their own, they must inform the Stage
Manager who will assign them technicians.
Prop assistants may not perform, interfere with or substantially enhance a
competition routine. An assistant that is in costume and hands or tosses
props to the competitor would be permitted, while an assistant that told
jokes or juggled would not be allowed.
Live or prerecorded music or other sound is permitted. Prerecorded music or
sound must be on tape.
Competitors may use copyright, royalty free or public domain recordings. Should a competitor elect to use a copyright recording, they must provide written evidence that they have obtained performance and synchronization rights from the owner of the copyright to use that recording in IJA competitions and videos.
Competitors must provide their own tapes or musicians.
Tapes must be cued and ready to go. Competitors should provide two cued
copies of routine tapes. Tapes should be clearly marked with the competition,
the name of the act, and the side to be played. Single tapes are preferred to
multiple tapes, but if multiple tapes are used they should be numbered in the
order to be played. If a competitor meets these conditions and the wrong tape
is played, the competitor may at the time of the error request that the act
be restarted from the point that the error occurred, or they can wait on
stage for the correct tape to be played, without being penalized for the time
involved with the error.
It is strongly recommended that prerecorded music be at least 15 to 30
seconds shorter than the permitted length of routines in your event, to allow
for the possibility that the facility tape deck may run at a different speed
from the competitor's own tape player, and to allow for some margin of error
in time required to complete the routine.
To reduce delays in the competitions and minimize the time between
performances, all acts must require less than two minutes to set up, starting
from an empty stage. It should also require no more than two minutes to
completely clear the stage after the act is complete. Take these time limits
into account when planning any elaborate sets or messy performances.
Any unique entrances, exits, props, intentional drops etc. must be discussed
with the Championships Director before the competitions begin. Providing
special effects, such as strobe, fog, explosives, flourescents, black lights
etc. are the responsibility of the competitor. All special effects must be
cleared with the Championships Director and the facility stage manager.
The IJA will endeavor to provide a high quality stage for the competitions,
but no explicit guarantees are made concerning characteristics of the
performance area. For example, competitors are advised to provide their own
"bounce slabs" for technical bounce tricks, and be prepared to cope with
possibly adverse lighting conditions or uneven ceiling heights.
No object may be intentionally juggled in an unsafe manner or thrown or
kicked off the front of the stage.
No acts involving fire in any way are permitted.
No acts that damage the performance area in any way are permitted. For
example, knives cannot be thrown into the stage floor.
Judges, audience members, and all backstage personnel except those
directly involved with an act may not engage in any behavior that could
materially affect an act, other than applauding or otherwise expressing
approval in appropriate ways at appropriate times.
The Championships Director reserves the right to veto any prop or portion of
a routine that may jeopardize the professionalism of the championships or the
safety or property of the audience, the championships personnel, or the
theater.
There is a maximum time limit for routines (see time limits). All acts will
be timed both by a Timekeeper and his or her assistant. An act begins when
the performer is first seen moving, or when music or speech is first heard
(whichever occurs first marks the start of time allowed for the act). The act
ends when the performer takes the final bow or acknowledges applause in any
other way for the last time. Encore bows or audience acknowledgements are not
included in the performance time. Competitors must inform the Championships
Director and the Timekeeper if the routine does not end on an obvious cue.
If an act goes overtime by more than 15 seconds (as measured by both the
Timekeeper and his or her assistant) the Timekeeper will loudly announce
"TIME!" The judges will discount any trick, finale, or action executed after
"TIME" is announced.
If an act runs 30 seconds after "TIME" has been announced, the performance
may be abruptly terminated by the Championships Director.
No formal penalties are mandated for running over time, but running over time
will have a serious adverse effect on the judges scoring of the entire
performance.
See also the comments above concerning prerecorded music, tapes, and timing.
The focus of the routine must be juggling as defined in the introduction. As
this is a juggling competition, not a variety entertainment contest, juggling
technique has more weight (60%) than other considerations (40%) in the judges
scoring of acts. The goal is to present an enjoyable, high quality juggling
routine with very few drops or mistakes.
The following is the list of criteria that judges consider when evaluating
acts. One general rule is that having more than a small number of drops and
mistakes will substantially reduce both technique and performance scores.
Technique measures the degree of difficulty and risk of drops of juggling
tricks, the variety of tricks, originality and execution. See the
introduction for a general definition of what constitutes juggling.
Degree of Difficulty: Considers the difficulty of the juggling. The
difficulty is determined by the type and number of objects juggled, the speed
of the juggling, the types of throws, catches, balances or other object
manipulations, the complexity of combinations of juggling tricks, and the
transitions between juggling tricks. If an act includes non-juggling skills,
then the extent to which these other skills make the juggling more difficult
will be considered in evaluating the degree of difficulty of the juggling.
The difficulty of the nonjuggling skills themselves does not count toward the
technique score. For example, juggling on a unicycle adds to difficulty
relative to juggling the same trick on the ground, but doing a backflip
between juggling tricks does not add to the difficulty of juggling score
(though it may help the performance scores).
Risk of drops and errors: Refers both to the chance of a drop or mistake and
to the difficulty of cleanly recovering from a drop or mistake. Some
examples: Toss juggling more objects is riskier than fewer objects, more
jugglers doing the same number of objects per juggler is riskier than fewer
jugglers, toss juggling is generally riskier than club swinging or ball
spinning, blind catches are generally riskier than ordinary catches, and
juggling on a tall unicycle is riskier than performing the same trick on a
short unicycle (since it makes clean recoveries from drops more difficult).
Risky tricks that are successfully completed get higher technique scores than
safer tricks of equal difficulty.
Variety of Tricks: Includes different types of tricks, varying numbers of
objects juggled, variety of props, and variety of juggling skills. Other
things equal, acts that show a variety of juggling skills will get higher
technique scores than acts that only demonstrate proficiency at one juggling
skill or prop.
Originality: Includes innovative design of tricks and of transitions between
tricks, extensions of standard tricks and the creative use of props, and the
originality of props. Originality is a very important component of the
overall score.
Execution: Measures how well the routine is performed and how successfully
the tricks are executed. This takes into account drops, bobbles, smoothness,
perfection, control and finesse. If a competitor has no drops but executes
the routine in a stiff way the score will be somewhat lower than had the
performance been graceful. Drops should be very rare, however, the smooth
recovery from a drop reduces the severity of the error.
Performance measures how well the competitor's presentation enhances the
juggling. Performance includes stage presentation, characterization,
routining, choreography, costume, sound, and overall artistry.
Stage Presentation and Characterization: This includes those qualities of
charm, warmth, confidence, appeal, audience connection and charisma that
support the performers stage persona.
Routining and Choreography: This includes originality, transitions between and
sequencing of tricks and props, dance or other movement, physical use of the
stage, and the relationship of movement and juggling to the music, voice, or
other sound accompaniment.
Costume and Sound: This includes consistency and appropriateness of wardrobe
and props to the performer's character and routine. Styling, condition of
props, prop stands, assistants costumes and the overall appearance of
everything seen on stage are considered. Music or other sound accompaniment
must be well recorded and smoothly spliced (or, if live, spoken clearly or
performed well) and relate to the character and design of the routine.
Artistry: This is the extent to which the juggling is enhanced by dramatics,
originality, physical comedy, mime, dance, and the overall creativity of the
routine.
Additional judging criteria for Teams competitions: Teams competitions should
involve significant juggling and performance interactions among the team
members. Significant interactions would include any kind of passing or
exchanging of props among members, as well as simultaneous or coordinated
juggling among members. All members of the team should juggle significantly,
e.g., a team act in which one member primarily juggled while another
primarily did clowning or played music would not be scored as highly as one
where both members juggled together in some way. This does not rule out
having one member play music or clown for part of the act to contribute to
the act's performance (though not technique) score.
The main features of a finals routine are:
- A clean, well polished, professional act with ideally no drops.
- Demonstrated confidence, practice and technical excellence.
- Focus on juggling. Non-juggling skills must enhance the juggling.
- Good production design: appropriate costumes, clean props, quality
sound, suitable prop stand and set.
- Music, patter, or other sound accompaniment, if appropriate.
- The routine must work well in a competitive setting, be entertaining,
impressive, and suitable for a family audience.
- Routines should meet the standards set by previous champions.
- Teams acts should involve significant juggling interactions among team
members.
The Modified Ordinal System will be used and implemented as follows: As each
competitor presents their routines, judges rank each act in comparison to the
previous acts. Acts are compared against the other entrants, rather than
against an absolute scoring standard. Immediately after the completion of the
last act in an event, the following procedure is employed:
- The judges adjourn to a private room backstage. No one is permitted in
this room except the judges and the Championships Director.
- Judges first discuss the acts with each other. All discussions are
moderated by the head judge, or by someone designated by the head judge.
- Each judge separately ranks the acts, assigning to the competitors the
scores: best act = 1, next best = 2, etc.,. Recall in making these overall
rankings that the weighting of technique to presentation is 60% versus %40.
- The head judge (or someone he or she designates) sums the scores that each
judge assigned to each act. The sums are announced to the judges.
- The judges have a second opportunity to discuss the acts, and can change
their rankings in step 3 if they see fit.
- Step 4 is repeated. The first place act is then the act with the lowest
sum. Second place is the second lowest sum, and third place is the third
lowest sum. Ties are resolved by the head judge.
First place: gold medal Second place: silver medal Third place: bronze
medal. Certificates will be awarded to all entrants that qualify for the
finals. Cash and other prizes may also be awarded. Since judges rank the
competitors, there will be no ties. The announced prize money for teams is
to be shared among the team members, for example, an announced prize of $500
for a team act means that the team receives $500, not that each team member
receives $500.
If only two entrants qualify for the finals in any event, then no third place
medal or third place prize money will be awarded in that event. If only one
entrant qualifies for the finals in any event, then that entrant wins the
gold medal and associated prizes, and no second or third place medals and
prizes are awarded in that event. Whether that entrant must present the act
during the finals competition is left to the discretion of the Championships
Director.
The IJA, its affiliates, and other groups of IJA members often sponsor
awards in addition to the Stage competition medals. Examples are the
Founder's award and the People's Choice awards. Stage competition entrants
are eligible to (and frequently do) win one or more of these awards, in
addition to whatever other medals they may win in the Stage competitions.
Questions or comments concerning these rules should be addressed to:
-
- IJA Championships Director
Craig Barnes
977 Danville Blvd.
Alamo, CA 94507
Email: championships@juggle.org
- Rules Consultant
Arthur Lewbel
Dept. of Economics
Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
Phone: 617-552-3678
Fax: 617-552-2308
http://www2.bc.edu/~lewbel/
Email: lewbel@bc.edu
