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IJA eNewsletter November 2021 Editors: Don Lewis & Martin Frost |
Happy Holidays from the IJA!
CONTENTS
- From the Chair
- IJA Youth Juggling Academy looking for new director
- Nominate someone for the Flamingo Club Award
- IJA 2021 end of year collaboration video
- Giving!
- Getting!
- IJA Virtual Hangout Jam December 4
- Latest articles in eJuggle (find a few that interest you and check them out)
- Upcoming juggling festivals
From the Chair by Aslynne Howes
Festival Registration
We are planning to open registration to the 2022 IJA Festival in December, so keep an eye on your inbox for that info coming out soon. The festival will run from July 11-17, 2022, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and already has amazing things planned!
Staffing Changes
Our Youth Juggling Academy (YJA) Director Galen Harp has chosen to step down. He intends to remain active on the YJA team. Galen and his team have been working hard over the years organizing and building the YJA. In recent months, they have been working towards producing an instructor’s manual to bring juggling into elementary schools – an excellent way to help build the future of the juggling community. Thanks very much to Galen for his years of hard work and dedication.
If you are interested in the position of YJA Director, please see further in this eNewsletter for more details.
We are always looking for more volunteers for all of our programs and to assist our officers. If you think you might be interested in volunteering, please check out the IJA Roles and Responsibilities page and contact us to let us know what areas you’d like to assist with.
Last month the IJA board of directors welcomed Benjamin Domask-Ruh to our team. He has been working with the 2022 IJA Festival team and is a talented director and performer. We look forward to continuing to work with him!
Aslynne Howes
IJA Chair
IJA Youth Juggling Academy looking for new director by Amy Wieliczka
The IJA is looking for a new director
for the Youth Juggling Academy (YJA). The YJA specifically supports educational juggling programs around the world through the YJA button achievement system, designed to accommodate children of all ages and juggling interests. At a more strategic level, the YJA also facilitates the inclusion of juggling in physical education programs and as a cross-training exercise in athletic programs in order to promote interest in juggling among youth. The YJA further aims to foster increased communication and community among the youth juggling community as a whole.
This volunteer position is perfect for anyone passionate about circus arts education and the future of juggling. It is an ideal role for anyone looking to build (or flex) their network in juggling education, both within and outside of the juggling community. The YJA Director will be responsible for managing and organizing the production of buttons for the Juggling Merit Buttons program and reporting to the IJA Board of Directors on a monthly basis.
The ideal YJA Director would:
- Create and manage a global database of juggling instructors
- Create educational resources to be used by teachers
- Contact educational and athletics-based institutions to build partnerships
- Design and implement a marketing strategy
- Manage social media and press relations
If you are interested in this role, please send IJA Operations Officer Scott Steiskal a statement of intent, what you bring to the role, and any other relevant information.
YJA Director applications are due by: Feb. 1, 2022.
Nominate someone for the Flamingo Club Award by Afton Benson
Nominations are open for the Flamingo Club Award!
What is the Flamingo Club? What is the Flamingo Club Award? The Flamingo Club provides the recognition, support and encouragement of female identifying and non-binary persons, children, and families, in order to build a more inclusive juggling community. The Flamingo Club Award is for: “Highlighting a female-identifying or non-binary person who has shown outstanding support, inspirational skill, or exceptional promotion of juggling.”
Nominate a qualifying individual until noon CST on January 15th, 2022, at forms.gle/EznpPFEDRwT5HxQh7
Please share this information with local juggling clubs as well! Nominees can be from anywhere, any age, and individuals are allowed to nominate themselves. Cheers!
IJA 2021 end of year collaboration video by Chris Garcia
Greetings Jugglers, Flow Artists, Object Manipulators & Circus Enthusiasts!
The IJA is putting together a 2021 collaboration video to highlight jugglers/flow-arts/circus and communities around the world. We are having an open call to all IJA members as well as non-members to film any trick or sequence they are most proud of that they’ve learned this year. Use any juggling/flow prop you’d like, and try to keep your sequence to no more than 20 seconds long. When filmed, you can submit your trick via the form below. Please submit no later than Jan 1, 2022, to have your clip considered for the video. We are also looking for a video editor who we will compensate for their editing time. Editor applications are also below.
Participant Submission Form:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdVj8bnLXN1czu1Dg7ABxfo58LEM00WlEegkFwYWphMqcgegg/viewform
Video Editor Application:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScgcPps7IWY2c5E0KjdDkpEXpuLqRUN5fkMipCII6r6q5dddQ/viewform
Giving! by Don Lewis
I’m writing this just after Black Friday, although the sales and “can’t miss deals” still seem to be loudly trumpeted in the stores while staffers are madly trying to re-position Christmas displays to keep the frenzy going. And next, we have cyber Monday, where everything that wasn’t sold last week is featured in online shopping. Not to be outdone, someone came up with the idea of “Giving Tuesday” to keep those credit cards smoking!
It is not a bad idea, really. If you’ve just taken advantage of sales to update your prop collection, you can donate your gently used props. I’m not actually sure that there is such a thing as a gently used prop, but as long as it isn’t totally destroyed, someone will be able to use your old props. www.juggle.org/programs/props-2-u/
What’s that you say? You haven’t updated your props in years? Well, why not do it now? The prop makers will certainly appreciate your business. Check out the Vendor Discount Program in which IJA members can get discounts from a number of participating vendors.
Consider making some Green Clubs and giving them away to people who have shown some interest in juggling, but can’t or won’t buy a good set of clubs when they aren’t sure they’ll actually be able to handle them. Green clubs are great for that since they have flexible handles that are easy on the hands for beginners. My first set of clubs were made of hard plastic. I almost gave up when my hands started to become numb from bad catches. I then tried a set of Dubé clubs and was astonished by the difference. There are lots of cheap, hard plastic clubs in toy stores today, unlike thirty years ago. They still hurt. And when I loan a set of my “real” clubs to someone who has never tried a soft handle, the reaction is always astonishment. I wonder how many people give up because the hard plastic clubs hurt their hands? Green clubs are easy on the hands, nearly indestructible, and are cheap and easy to make. The plans are available free on the IJA website in English, French, and Spanish.
And just to finish off, the IJA does have 501(C)(3) status, so you can make tax-deductible donations to the IJA to support our various programs. That is a nice way of encouraging the volunteers who are giving their time and effort.
Getting! by Don Lewis
I mentioned earlier that giving some business to the prop makers that facilitate our sport is a good idea. Just because you aren’t performing on stage doesn’t mean you don’t need new props on a regular basis. New props are a nice thing to have!
While we are busily juggling those props, we don’t always think other ways of appreciating juggling. One of those ways is to read about it.
You almost certainly have seen David Cain’s articles on eJuggle. Did you know that he has also published over a dozen books on the history of juggling? You can order the books through David at historicaljugglingprops.com/juggling-history-books.
Reg Bacon is a prolific author who actually lived as a vaudeville performer. His books are full of interesting “insider” anecdotes that make juggling and performing come alive. He has recently compiled some old out-of-print classics and reprinted them with context and commentary. You can see all of his juggling, vaudeville and contemporary history books at varietyartspress.com. I actually use his two editing books. They are entertaining and help keep my writing understandable.
IJA Virtual Hangout Jam December 4 by Chris Garcia
IJA board member and professional juggler Niels Duinker will be the host of this month’s Virtual Hangout Jam, and you’re invited, whether an IJA member or not.
Niels encourages you to bring any questions you may have about juggling professionally or just about juggling. Or join in if you just want to share your latest cool trick with the community.
So grab your props or a coffee, and hang out with your fellow jugglers virtually! Meetings are via Zoom and are accessible via mobile or computer.
This month we are hosting the meeting on the first Saturday, December 4th, at 1:00pm Eastern Time.
We’d love feedback from the community on the best time for you for future events. Let us know by filling out this survey form.
Hangout rules
As this meeting is accessible to both youth and adults, please use appropriate language, clothing, behavior, etc. This is a safe space. Anyone espousing hate or bigotry will be removed. Please turn off your microphone when not speaking, to avoid excess ambient noise.
How to join
Download and install Zoom on your phone or computer. Use the Zoom link below to register. This can be done at any time before you join. After you’ve registered, you’ll be given a link to join the meeting. Click it and an admin should admit you into the hangout from the waiting room.
Next Hangout
December 4th, 2021, at 1:00pm Eastern Time
Be sure to Pre-Register for the Hangout
us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0vduytpzktHtO4fpyOYWO-eIP3NVaOFuAA
Latest articles in eJuggle
- 11/27 Bobby Sandler on “Drop Everything” podcast with host Dan Holzman (by Daniel Holzman)
- 11/26 International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (by Esteban Velez)
- 11/24 IJA Tricks of the Month by Jorge Petit from Chile | Juggling balls (by IJA Tricks of the Month)
- 11/22 Big Apple Circus 2021 (by Raphael Harris)
- 11/19 Object Episodes 10 (by Jay Gilligan)
- 11/17 IJA Tricks of the Month by Taylor Glenn from USA | Juggling balls (by IJA Tricks of the Month)
- 11/15 Juggling Kids – Part 2 (by Esteban Velez)
- 11/13 Mikhail and Ksenia Pashchenko – Russian Juggling Pioneers (by David Cain)
- 11/10 IJA Tricks of the Month by Kellin Quinn from USA | Juggling (by IJA Tricks of the Month)
- 11/08 Juggling Kids – Part 1 (by Esteban Velez)
- 11/06 New Findings on the History of Ring Juggling (by David Cain)
- 11/04 Object Episodes 9 (by Jay Gilligan)
- 11/02 World Hoop Day 2021 (by Esteban Velez)
- 11/01 Remembering Ron Henon (by David Cain)
- 10/30 Khosrov Abdullayev – Juggler, Illusionist and Circus Performer (by Esteban Velez)
Upcoming juggling festivals
Note: Virtually all juggling festivals planned for the coming months have been canceled or rescheduled because of the worldwide pandemic, though some will be held online.
To find a juggling fest near you or online, check the fest list at The Juggling Edge. Eventually festivals will return.