Editors: Don Lewis and Martin Frost
ijanews@juggle.org
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CONTENTS
- Chair’s message
- 2016 Championships: Big prize money, April 1 entry deadline is almost here!
- Seeking volunteers for 2017 Festival Registrar – Earn a full Festival Package
- Board nominations open
- Online fest registration ends at 11:59pm EDT on June 30, 2016
- Special guests for the IJA fest
- Festival update: The Gauntlet 3
- 2016 IJA Festival in El Paso, Texas, July 25-31 — hotel information
- Festival room and ride sharing
- Pass it on!
- Mr. E’s Night of the Jugglers – Saturday, April 2nd, 2016
- 2013 Fest DVD 2-Pack available from the new IJA Store
- Latest articles in eJuggle
- Upcoming juggling festivals
Chair’s message, by Nathan Wakefield
In IJA Board news, Jared Davis has re-joined the IJA Board of Directors, filling in the vacant Board seat. Jared was an IJA Board member from 2013-2015, and we are glad to have him back in the mix!
Speaking of the IJA Board, nominations are open for the upcoming election. If you’ve ever wanted to get involved in the IJA or know someone that you think would be a good fit, send a nomination over to: ijanominations@juggle.org
Festival info, including registration, is available at: https://juggle.org/festival.
Nathan Wakefield
IJA Chairman
2016 Championships: Big prize money,
April 1 entry deadline is almost here!
There’s going to be a lot more prize money given out to the Championships medalists at the 2016 IJA fest in El Paso, thanks to generous support from anonymous donors iiWii and Unna Med. Over $35,000 will be on the line! That includes $10,000 for the IJA Individuals gold medalist and $10,000 for the winning IJA Team!
The deadline for entering the Championships, including submitting a video of your full act, is April 1, 2016.
For complete information, go to https://juggle.org/championships.
Seeking volunteers for 2017 Festival Registrar – Earn a full Festival Package, by Mike Sullivan
The IJA is seeking a couple of dedicated volunteers to be the Festival Registrars for the historic 70th Annual IJA Festival in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, set for July 10-16, 2017. Volunteers can earn a full Festival Event Package for their efforts and be part of the core team that makes the festival so much fun for hundreds of jugglers from around the world.
After reading the description of the role below, if you think you might be interested, please contact 2016 Festival Registrar Mike Sullivan at registrar@juggle.org soon so that you can possibly get some hands-on training with Mike this year, both before and at the 2016 festival. He’ll be happy to answer any questions you have.
The effort for next year begins early in 2017 with the setup and testing of the online event registration system. Work with the festival team to get festival registrations ready around February or March, and then provide weekly registration reports until online registration ends in June. Once set up, the system is run by automation through the end of online registration, requiring no administrative effort except weekly reports and a few customer service requests.
After that, you’ll help the festival team with data processing and logistics for the festival registration desk, including:
– Preparing festival packets for pre-registered jugglers
– Giving festival team members data on vendor, juggler and guest registrations
– Handling customer service for jugglers inquiring about the fest or their registration
– Coordinating with event directors on event registrations for joggling, numbers, etc.
Registration setup and testing requires about 30 hours of work spread across a couple of weeks in January and February. Once registration opens, 2-4 hours/week should be all that’s needed to monitor and report on registrations as well as handle the few customer service issues that come up.
Once on-site at the festival in Cedar Rapids, you’ll lead the IJA registration desk team, including
– Staffing the desk from 9am-4pm daily along with 3-4 other IJA volunteers
– Checking in pre-registered jugglers and sell gym passes & other fest items
– Working with the Square Register system to record and process all transactions
– Preparing and making bank deposits of cash and checks received daily
– Updating the festival team and Treasurer on daily sales each night
– After the fest, preparing summary and detail sales reports
It’s a lot of work, but it’s very rewarding and you’ll be part of the core team that makes the 70th annual IJA Festival an unforgettable week of fun in a beautiful, small Midwestern gem of a city.
If you’re interested, please email 2016 Festival Registrar Mike Sullivan at registrar@juggle.org. Hands-on training is available starting now and continues with on-site training at this year’s fest in El Paso.
Board nominations open, by Martin Frost
Want to help steer the IJA? Got some good ideas for what the IJA should (or should not!) do? Run for the IJA Board, or if you think you know someone who would be a good Board member, talk to them about running.
The current volunteer directors on the IJA Board are working hard to keep the IJA alive and vibrant. Each year the IJA needs new volunteers to join the Board and help decide the directions the IJA will go. About half of the seven Board seats are up for election each summer for a two-year term. You help out for two years and then you can relax and let someone else step up if you want to. Or, you could offer to run again.
Serving on the Board can be very rewarding. Submit a nomination to ijanominations@juggle.org by the May 15th deadline. Email that same address if you have any questions about serving on the Board. Help promote the IJA and build on a legacy of success. For more details, see: https://juggle.org/business/nominations.php.
2016 IJA Festival in El Paso, Texas, July 25-31, by Jim Maxwell, Festival Director
| Event Package purchase date |
March 1-19 | Mar 20-Jun 30 | At the fest |
| Adult (age 18-64) | $199 | $239 | $259 |
| Youth/Senior (11-17, 65+) | $139 | $189 | $219 |
All your favorite events are back: Stage Championships (with much bigger prize money!), XJuggling, Renegade, Numbers Championships, Joggling, Welcome Show and Cascade of Stars, plus the return of the Gauntlet.
We have special IJA rates at three top-tier hotels, all within an easy walk of the beautiful El Paso Convention Center. See the hotel info below.
Emil Dahl will perform his ground-breaking Magnet Opus in the IJA Cascade of Stars gala, as well as offer a two-day special workshop.
Institute of Jugglology
Peter Irish
Emil Dahl
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Aleksandra Savina
Cascade of Stars Performer
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Amanda Crockett
Welcome Show and Cascade of Stars Performer
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Institute of Jugglology
Cascade of Stars Performer
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La Flaka
Welcome Show and Cascade of Stars Performer
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Peter Irish
Cascade of Stars Performer
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Zak McAllister
Welcome Show Performer
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Team Rootberry
Welcome Show Performer
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| Emil Dahl of Sweden Performs his ground-breaking Magnet Opus in the IJA Cascade of Stars Gala |
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| The KamiKaze FireFlies Cascade of Stars Emcees |
Fernanda Sumano 2011 IRC Mexico Gold Medalist |
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| Bekah Smith Juniors Championships Emcee |
Braulio Lopez 2015 IRC Mexico Gold Medalist |
Dan Holzman Welcome Show Emcee |
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| Jorge Vilchis 2013 IRC Mexico Silver Medalist |
Kelsey Strauch Welcome Show Performer |
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| Gabriel Estrada 2015 IRC Central America Gold Medalist |
Scotty Meltzer & Katrine Spang-Hanssen Individuals and Teams Championships Emcees |
Festival update: The Gauntlet 3, by Jim Maxwell
If you’re planning to compete for this year’s historic prize money in the 2016 IJA Stage Championships, you have only a few more days before the April 1 deadline. Special thanks to our anonymous donors, iiWii and Unna Med, for their significant contributions to this year’s payouts. For full details including Championships rules and how to enter, see: www.juggle.org/championships
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“Ball Hall” – Contestants run down 12 feet of balance beam while balls drop from a ceiling above them. This obstacle is as much a challenge for the contestant as for the builders. Engineers will marvel at the yet to be constructed ball return system. Possible ideas include either an Archimedes screw, conveyor belt or blower system to move balls from the floor to the ceiling of the ‘ball hall’.
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“Math is Hard!” – Yeah, but jugglers are so smart…or are they? Jugglers will face a massive computer driven multiple choice wall. Contestants will have 3 chances to punch the correct answer to multiple choice arithmetic equations which briefly flash on screen on the wall. This summer, we finally test contestants’ brain power.
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“The Volcano” – Contestants have to throw one ball up high through a giant, narrowing conical ‘volcano’ suspended overhead and then catch the ball on the rebound as it navigates its way down the side over various foils, cantilevers and ledges on the outside of the giant volcano cone.
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“The Car Wash” – Giant spinning wheels of pool noodles confront and confound the juggler as she runs through the field of spinning styrofoam ‘blades of death’.
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“Tie Run” – It works for training Marines, so why not jugglers. It’s the classic test of agility and speed, all while juggling.
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“Giant Slide” – Contestants will test their nerve as they climb up stairs to an 8 foot high platform to slide down a 12 to 14 foot custom-built slide, all while juggling. Don’t worry, there will be railings on the stairs, but will they contain the contestant’s fear of heights and free-fall speed?
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“Ring Mover” – Ring neck pull downs may have gone out of style on the main IJA competition stage in 1986, but they very well may be back in style this summer when contestants need to move one juggling ring hanging from a peg on a wall, across an 8 foot gap, and hang it to rest on a peg on an opposing wall, all while juggling.
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“Teeter-Totter” – The crowd pleasing obstacle from Gauntlet 1 is back as contestants race up and then crash down the other side of a giant teeter-totter.
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“The Bike Rack” – We will push contestants’ precision coordination to the edge as they are forced to make one catch and one throw in their cascade from in between each of the vertical slots of a long run of vertical PVC pipes. Sound easy? Go try it at your local bike rack right now. Don’t worry, we’ll wait right here for you while you drop 6 million times.
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“Sleepy Time” – Don’t get too sleepy for this bouncy, shaky obstacle. Contestants have to run across a giant field of inflatable mattresses.
2016 IJA Festival in El Paso, Texas, July 25-31 — hotel information
Our three El Paso hotels are taking IJA room reservations for next summer at IJA rates. Go to the IJA festival website, move your mouse over Festival and click on Lodging to see all the details.
See this hotel information grid for a summary of all three official IJA festival hotel options in downtown El Paso.
Camino Real Hotel El Paso – $89.00 + tax
DoubleTree El Paso Downtown – $95.00 + tax
Holiday Inn Express El Paso Central – $89.00 + tax
Festival room and ride sharing, by Jim Maxwell
https://goo.gl/forms/UTV5wP687I.
As we’ve provided in past years, we also have a Rideshares & Roomshares Forum on our website if you want to seek out people to share with there. You need to be a logged-in IJA member to post in the forum.
Pass it on! by Don Lewis
All juggling festivals seem to have one thing in common. There are budding club jugglers who are just itching to pass like the experts. But, they’re shy. They’ve probably been learning to pass with local jugglers, who are all juggling with people from away that they haven’t seen for awhile. Maybe the beginners are practicing drops with other beginners and just getting discouraged. Probably they are standing around just watching you, even if you’re only doing a basic four count.
Once you are comfortable passing clubs, a festival is a great place to meet up with old friends and try insanely complex patterns. After all, that is one of the great benefits of a festival. Who can blame the local jugglers for abandoning the beginners who have been frustrating them for months while they seek out their own challenges? But you can fill in the gap by seeking out some of those that are eager to learn but too shy to ask.
A good place to start is by seeing if there is a basic club passing workshop. If you don’t mind following the lesson, you can offer to partner someone trying to learn. If there isn’t a workshop, you can offer to teach one. Or just let whoever is coordinating workshops know that you’re willing to do some one-on-one with beginners. Usually you just have to look around to see who needs some help to move up a level in confidence.
Sometimes you get surprised. Some years ago I attended a weekend festival in New York. There was a guy standing around with clubs in his hand so I asked if he wanted to pass. “Oh, no. I’ve only passed a couple of times, I wouldn’t be good enough” was the answer. My response was, “OK, let’s see what you can do”. It turned out that he could do a shaky four count, but he had a stable cascade and a decent sense of the count. Five minutes of the three-around exercise took most of the shake out of four count passing. Pickups started to become routine once he got the idea that you don’t have to rush. By the end of half an hour he was confidently returning left and right doubles and beginning to throw doubles back at me. On to three count, since I don’t like to see people stuck on one side forever like too often happens. Once he convinced his left hand to throw to me somewhere close to where I could catch it we started in on doubles there too. I’d never seen anyone advance that quickly. At the end, we actually got through several rounds of Jim’s 3-count. All that in an hour! It would have been fun to be a fly on the wall the next time he passed with the locals.
Noblesse Oblige. A whole bunch of people probably taught you how to pass clubs along the way. Take a few minutes to pay that forward at every festival you attend. The people that you help today will probably be juggling the arms off you next year.
Mr. E’s Night of the Jugglers – Saturday, April 2nd, 2016
Mr. E’s Night of the Jugglers will be Saturday, April 2, at 7:30pm at the Upper Darby Performing Arts Center (UDPAC), Upper Darby, PA.
The show stars Jen Slaw Napolitano, Michael Menes, Michael Lane Trautman, and Michael Karas and is hosted by Mr. E (Jackie Erickson).
The all-juggling format, immensely popular in each previous show in the ten-year run, will highlight the varied talents of each performer and showcase an excerpt from the off-broadway show “Perfect Catch” featuring Karas and Napolitano as a couple that meets because of juggling and proceeds to … well … be a perfect catch for each other.
Tickets are available online at UDPAC or at the box office and are $12.50.
2013 Fest DVD 2-Pack available from the new IJA Store
The 2013 IJA Festival DVD 2-Pack is available for purchase, from the new IJA Store. The price is $30 for members ($40 for non-members). To get the member price, sign in at ym.juggle.org. Once you are signed in, go to:
ym.juggle.org/store/ListProducts.aspx?catid=449785
We have DVDs for sale from the IJA fests in: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Each year includes two DVDs and roughly two hours of video.
Latest articles in eJuggle
Nathalie Enterline on “Drop Everything” podcast with host Dan Holzman
Host: Dan Holzman Guests: Nathalie Enterline talks about her performance career and her 25 year relationship with one of the world’s greatest jugglers, Francis Brunn. Also on itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/il/podcast/ejuggle/id1063204159
IJA Tricks of The Month March 2016 Ecuador by: Compañia Circomico
La Fundación Casa de la Música ubicada en Quito – Ecuador fue el lugar destinado para realizar Los “Tricks of the month – Ecuador – Marzo 2016”, allí Caetano León del colectivo Circo Cebra, Diego Marcillo de la Compañía Circómico, Álvaro Soto de Circo Social Quito, Melissa Coulardet Artista independiente y Adrián Martínez de Jugglar […]
Fun with Multiplexes
The multiplex is common knowledge among the juggling community. Used as a fancy start for a routine, a photo-opportunity (1-up 4-up anyone?) or for a quick bail-out after a bad catch, many jugglers have mastered one or two multiplex tricks. Due to all the possible combinations of throws in a multiplex, the variation in these […]
Mind Blown Collab Video – Pinball and BBB
We are excited to present the first video of the new IJA video series – Mind Blown! Mind Blown – Pinball and BBB – 2016!”Mind Blown” is a new IJA collaboration video series for eJuggle, organized and edited by Gino Crovetto of Perú. Each video will focus on a different style of juggling. Various jugglers from […]
Team Rootberry on “Drop Everything” podcast with host Dan Holzman
Host: Dan Holzman Guests: Team Rootberry. The comedy juggling duo share stories from their long and successful partnership. Also on itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/il/podcast/ejuggle/id1063204159
Juggling Coaches
As with many life skills, juggling can be learned by yourself if necessary, but it often helps to have a coach, mentor, teacher, or trainer. These people can apply their knowledge, experience, and lessons learned to their student to increase or expedite success and improvement. Coaches can help to identify strengths and weaknesses, teach specific […]
Juggler’s Scoop – March 10th, 2016
Juggler’s Scoop is a bi-weekly collection of the latest juggling videos and news bits from around the web. Here’s the latest scoop! – Daniela Paličková is smiling on the inside as she demonstrates her innovative club patterns. – Students at Bronxville High School have made a short documentary about Chris Pert, ‘The Joggler.’ – Kellin […]
Just a Dream Comic
Click to enlarge
The Salerno Candle – The Journey Of A Single, Amazing Juggling Prop
I recently received an extremely interesting prop for my juggling museum. It is a self-lighting candle used by the legendary gentleman juggler Salerno in his act. If you’re not familiar with Salerno, click here to read a previous article I wrote about him. As I stated in that article, Salerno (1869-1946) was not only an […]
IJA Tricks of the Month – March 2016 – Ethiopia by Nhatty
Natnael Haylu, aka Nhatty, lives in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He began circus arts 7 years ago, and has been bounce juggling for 3 years. During those 3 years, he has had many challenges and rewards. One challenge, for example, has been obtaining juggling and bounce balls in Ethiopia, because there are no juggling or circus […]
A Message from the Chairman, February 2016
BOOM! POW! Do you hear that? That’s the sound of our 2016 Festival planning kicking into high gear! BASH! Festival Director Jim Maxwell and company continue to work tirelessly on what will no doubt be a festival for the ages. Now, we are pleased to be able to make more and more news of […]
Dream Tricks Challenge # 3 – Old School / Gentleman Juggler Tricks
The two previous Dream Tricks Challenge articles challenged jugglers to attempt tricks that had never been done, at least on video. The results were quite amazing. This edition of DTC stays true to idea of attempting tricks that haven’t been done on video, but this time we’re going to go back in time quite a […]
Book Review – Pearls Of Juggling
Pearls Of Juggling is a new book written by British juggler Anthony Trahair. The author, who now lives in Rome, Italy, took four years to research and reflect on the art of juggling and integrated his 21 years of juggling experience with his expertise in yoga and three years of study at the Dimitri Physical […]
Jacobe Sharpe on “Drop Everything” podcast with host Dan Holzman
Host: Dan Holzman Guest: Jacob Sharpe talks Diabolos, street shows, circus festivals and more. Also on itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/il/podcast/ejuggle/id1063204159
Graphic Juggling Notation by Rauli Katajavuori
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Upcoming juggling festivals
For a list of even more festivals, check the worldwide juggling event listings on our website at: www.juggle.org/events.
If you’re organizing a juggling festival (or if you simply know of a juggling fest) and you want to advertise it in the IJA eNewsletter, just drop a note to eNewsletter editor Don Lewis enews@juggle.org. Such listings are free.
The eNewsletter generally comes out near the end of each month. Your festival can be listed for a few months, and you don’t have to be an IJA affiliate to have a fest listed. Hey, jugglers want to know about juggling fests. Help them out and get more jugglers to your fest at the same time.
British Juggling Convention 2016
30 Mar – 4 Apr 2016
Bell’s Sport Centre, Hay St, Perth, PH1 5HS UK
https://www.bjc2016.co.uk
Tucson Juggling Festival 2016
1 Apr – 3 Apr 2016
11570 N Oracle Rd; Tucson, AZ 85737 USA
https://tucsonjuggling.org
39th Annual RIT Spring Juggle IN
8 Apr – 10 Apr 2016
RIT, 1 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester NY 14623 USA
https://sites.sg.rit.edu/juggling/juggle-in/39th-rit-spring-juggle-in/
UCSCJC – 2016 UC Santa Cruz Juggling Convention
22 Apr – 24 Apr 2016
Santa Cruz, California USA
https://www.facebook.com/events/1034046879981337
10ª Convention di Giocoleria della Brianza
25 Apr – 1 May 2016
Imbersago (LC) 23898 via Adda Italy (Italia)
https://www.conventiongiocoleriabrianza.it/
26th Dutch Juggling Convention
5 May – 8 May 2016
Arnhem Netherlands
https://www.njf2016.nl
Isla Vista Jugglers Festival
6 May – 8 May 2016
UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA USA
https://www.sbjuggle.org
Congress of Jugglers 2016
6 May – 8 May 2016
Ritchie Coliseum, College Park, Maryland 20740 USA
https://www.facebook.com/events/1540482139595491
Bungay Balls Up 2016
20 May – 30 May 2016
Hulver Farm, St Michael South Elmham, NR35 1NF UK
https://www.bungayballsup.com/
Galway Juggling Convention 2016
27 May – 29 May 2016
Áras na Mac Léinn · Galway, Ireland (Éire)
https://www.facebook.com/GalwayJugglingConvention/?fref=ts
Second Russian Juggling Festival
1 Jun – 5 Jun 2016
Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
https://www.facebook.com/events/1015523838511472/
Eindhovens Jongleer Festival 2016
17 Jun – 19 Jun 2016
Sportcentrum van de Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, Onze Lieve Vrouwestraat 1, 5612 Eindhoven Netherlands (Nederland)
https://www.jongleers.nl/ejf2016
French National Juggling Convention – Jongl’ô Païs 2016
13 Jul – 17 Jul 2016
Vanosc France
https://www.facebook.com/events/997628380312149
69th Annual IJA Juggling Festival 2016 – El Paso
25 Jul – 31 Jul 2016
El Paso Convention Center, El Paso, Texas USA
https://juggle.org/festival
39th European Juggling Convention, Almere, Netherlands
30 Jul – 7 Aug 2016
Topsportcentrum Almere Pierre de Coubertinlaan 7, Almere, Netherlands
https://www.ejc2016.org
2ª Convenção Caipira de Malabarismo e Circo
7 Sep – 11 Sep 2016
R. Daniel Antônio de Freitas, 115 – Distrito Industrial, São José do Rio Preto – SP Brazil
https://www.ccmc.art.br