IJA eNewsletter – May 2025

IJA logo
www.juggle.org		    IJA eNewsletter
   May 2025Editors: Don Lewis & Martin Frost
(ijanews@juggle.org)

CONTENTS

  • The importance of an invitation
  • 2025 IJA Festival, July 14-20, Evansville, IN – online registration ends soon
  • REAL ID (or passport) needed for air travel in USA
  • IJA Board nominations still open, will close on June 15
  • On Board nominations and elections
  • An extraordinary coincidence
  • World Juggling Day – June 14, 2025
  • Opportunity for youth jugglers: Club YJA at the 2025 IJA Festival
  • Getting to Evansville
  • Downtown Evansville Pub Crawl tickets available
  • Green Clubs for new jugglers
  • YJA Badge Book
  • IJA Board meetings
  • Upcoming juggling festivals
  • Latest articles in eJuggle

 

 

The importance of an invitation!  Benjamin Domask-Ruh

IJA Board Chair April 2025

Hello IJA Community,

When performers are making a new show, we talk about the idea of an offer.  An invitation.  “What if we tried this?” In a collaborative space, the team jumps together and says, “Let’s try it!” I just performed in the Philadelphia Contemporary Circus Festival with Thom Wall and our show, ‘An Evening with Benjamin and Thom & Thom and Benjamin.’ It was a wonderful time!  We are often offering each other ways to get into jokes and bits while on stage.  That helps keep it fresh for us as well as shows the audience they can be in on the game, too!

The show before ours was a trio out of Chicago performing their show, ‘I Think It Could Work.’ Sierra Rhoades Nicholls, Liam Bradley, and Kevin Flanagan shared an amazing piece of art full of exploration, acrobatics, handstands, and juggling virtuosity spanning balls, poles, and a raw egg yolk.  (Yes, they separated the egg yolk from the egg whites on stage and proceeded to juggle it in the most amazing display of contact juggling one could ever imagine!)  One of the most striking parts of the performance was their constant invitation to the audience to include them in the process of the show.  They gave audience members a choice from simple prompts.  “Would you like to see more?  Or Less?” “Fast or slow?” Smooth or sharp?” Then they incorporated it into their performance.

Watching a show this way instantly felt like I was a part of the action.  So much so that when they came into the audience I found myself thinking ‘I hope they come to me, next!’ This is the power of honest invitations and making people feel welcomed and a part of the fun and that is exactly the kind of feeling we can give jugglers in our community who haven’t been to an IJA festival or haven’t been to one in years.  The power of an invite is how we can take care of each other!  With the festival coming up, and a deadline for online registrations approaching, I’m writing all of this to remind ourselves that a simple, ‘Hey!  Are you going to IJA this year?  I think you would really enjoy it and we would love having you there!’ can go a long, long way.

And on the note of invitations… If you have any thoughts or ideas you’d like to share, please feel free to reach out to me at ija.chair@juggle.org.  As a member, you are always welcome to attend our board meetings by sending me an email for a Zoom link.  Or you can see what the board discussed each month by reading the minutes.

RA2FJ,
Benjamin Domask-Ruh
IJA Board Chair

 

 

2025 IJA Festival, July 14-20, Evansville, IN – online registration ends soon
Afton Benson & Noel Yee – 2025 Festival Directors

Dear IJA Members,

The 78th Annual IJA Festival is less than fifty days away!  You have until Noon ET on June 8 to pre-register and lock in the best price and ensure you get your festival T-shirt.  If you can only join us for a few days, no problem – we’ve got you covered with day passes, and you can get your tickets in person at the Victory Theater box office.

Speaking of the theater, here are some Special Guests!  That’s right, we said GUESTS!  Appearing in the Cascade of Stars on July 19, from the Las Vegas show Absinth: Tony Pezzo, Doug Sayers, and Noah Schmeissner will be sharing their mind-blowing juggling skills!  Not only will they be performing for our spectacular community, they’ll be sharing their skills with multiple workshops.

We’re also excited to announce that Tersit Asefa Dersu will be bringing her unique bounce juggling style and skills to the Cascade of Stars as well!

We’re announcing more guests on Facebook and Instagram, so keep your eyes peeled!

Have you booked your hotel yet?  The Doubletree is nearly at capacity so we’ve secured additional rooms at the Hyatt Place two blocks away from the convention center.  You can book here!  Rooms are limited and once their gone, they’re gone!

Do you have a workshop you want to share with your juggling community?  Sign up here to share your skills.  Did you know that workshops don’t have to be juggling related?  We’ve had workshops on how to market yourself as a performer, learn to knit your own juggling balls, and more!  Share your passion with others and sign up today.

We can’t wait to see you in Evansville – invite your friends and share with your local communities!

2025 IJA Festival Team

 

 

REAL ID (or passport) needed for air travel in USA  Don Lewis, Martin Frost & the TSA

If you are planning to travel by air within the USA, you now need either a REAL ID or a passport.  A REAL ID is a driver’s license or identification card that is also a federally accepted form of identification.

The TSA does not require anyone under the age of 18 to provide identification when traveling with a companion within the U.S.  However, the companion will need acceptable identification, such as a REAL ID, U.S. Passport, U.S. Passport Card, DHS Trusted Traveler Card, etc.

For more info, see: Acceptable Identification at the TSA Checkpoint.

If you’re in the US and not sure if your driver’s license is REAL ID compliant, contact your state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Be sure to do that in advance if you’re flying to the festival, so that you can avoid a last minute surprise.

 

 

IJA Board nominations still open, will close on June 15  Martin Frost

Nomination are open for members of the IJA Board of Directors.  Board members will be elected during the annual IJA Festival in Evansville, Indiana, with all IJA members age 13 and over eligible to vote at the festival or online leading up to the festival.

The IJA Board of Directors manages this nonprofit corporation for the benefit of its members.  The board is composed of seven people, with elected directors serving two-year terms.  Approximately half of the seats are up for election each year at the IJA Festival.

The directors are asked to meet in person at the festival.  Each board member is expected to communicate regularly by email, must have web access, and will attend online meetings once or twice a month.  Directors should expect to spend some hours each week on behalf of the IJA.

In addition, all candidates should understand that the members of the Board of Directors are legally responsible as fiduciaries in setting the goals and policies of the IJA, managing its finances, overseeing its employees (if any), and administering its programs.  At all times, the members of the Board of Directors must act in good faith and in the best interest of the corporation.  The IJA maintains Directors and Officers Insurance to protect the board and officers.

This is a great opportunity for you “to render assistance to fellow jugglers.”  Nominate someone, including maybe yourself.  That’s right, it is perfectly acceptable to nominate yourself.

Information about the nomination process is available at www.juggle.org/business/nominations.

The nomination deadline is 11:59pm PDT on June 15, 2025.  Participate!

 

 

On Board nominations and elections  Don Lewis

I’ve been a member of the IJA for quite a while now.  During that time, the IJA has had prosperous times, lean times, and tumultuous times.  A lot of us have worked to make sure that the IJA can survive and thrive.

The IJA is a membership organization with a Board of Directors chosen by the membership.  Directors serve a two year term, and can be elected to more than one term if they are re-elected by the membership.  IJA Directors and officers are protected by Directors and Officers Insurance, which is important.

Directors do not need specific training or experience to help guide the IJA forward.  Life experience is generally sufficient.  Board members tend to have a range of abilities and interests, and skill sharing can be a part of that.  You don’t have to do everything yourself.  Ordinary members often help with specific tasks while the Board provides oversight and support.

It is important that the members vote each year to ensure that the IJA has a robust volunteer Board of Directors.  We have made great efforts to ensure that ALL members are able to vote, not just those who are able to attend the festival.

But, it is important that there are candidates to vote for!  Look in the mirror and ask yourself what you want from the IJA.  You are probably the best person to guide the IJA to be exactly what you want.  Step away from the mirror and nominate yourself.  The commitment is generally just a few hours a month.

So, what is the danger if there are not enough nominees, or not enough voters?  Well write in candidates are allowed on the ballot.  A very small number of votes can potentially elect someone with no real interest in seeing the IJA thrive.  Please don’t let that happen.

Nominate yourself or some other IJA member that you respect, and VOTE.  Do not unleash the law of unintended consequences on the IJA.

 

 

An extraordinary coincidence  Don Church

As I was reading Don Lewis’s article in the April IJA newsletter, I thought someone had written my story.  Let me explain.

When I was about 45, as my wife and I prepared for a vacation, we visited a bookstore to gather reading material.  It was there I discovered the Klutz learn-to-juggle book, complete with three juggling balls.  I subsequently learned to juggle in a mountain meadow while hiking in the Canadian Rockies.  I was hooked.  I later discovered the Bluenose Juggling Club in Halifax, where many others helped me hone my skills at balls, clubs, rings, and unicycling.

I then discovered the IJA and the annual festival.  My first was in Montreal in 1992, followed by Pittsburgh, Madison and Quebec City, where I learned the juggling community is full of very generous souls.  I also found that the pinnacle of all this is interactive juggling with 2, 3, or even more partners.  My juggling career has consisted mainly of charity events and hospital and school visits, although I did combine juggling and tap dancing on one occasion.

I am proud to say that over the years I have taught hundreds of others to juggle.  That’s my story.  I want to say thank you to the Klutz Press, the IJA and my many juggling friends for a wonderful lifelong hobby.  And thanks to Don Lewis for reminding us of the joy of juggling and the importance of the IJA festivals.

Editor’s note:  The famous book “Juggling for the Complete Klutz” has sold more than three million copies over almost fifty years and taught people of all ages how to juggle.  Our challenge is to get more of these people to come to a juggling festival!  –DGL

 

 

World Juggling Day – June 14, 2025  Martin FrostWorld Juggling Day

World Juggling Day is nearly here, coming up on Saturday, June 14.  Wherever you are in the world, you’re invited to join us in celebrating this fun pastime, whether it’s your vocation or avocation (or both).

If you’re planning a juggling event that day, register it online for others to find.

Get together on WJD with other local jugglers and share the spirit of the day with jugglers around the world.

 

 

Opportunity for youth jugglers: Club YJA at the 2025 IJA Festival
Benjamin Domask-Ruh – YJA Director

The IJA’s Youth Juggling Academy (YJA) will once again be hosting Club YJA: a community and workshop series for jugglers ages 8 to 18, held at the IJA Festival in Evansville, IN, July 14-20, 2025.

Youth interested in furthering their juggling and performance abilities will attend daily (Tuesday – Friday) get-togethers during the IJA Festival from 10am – 12pm.  During this time, we will engage in youth-focused juggling and performance workshops led by professional teaching artists from the community and participate in group activities/games to build friendship and community.

This program is open to youth circus programs and families and will be led by Kayla Malmgren of R.E.A.C.H. Juggling!

Sign-up here to help us prepare for our festival this year!

While Club YJA will be a free program run by the YJA at the festival, festival registration will be required for all participants.  For more information on the IJA festival such as registration, lodging, and travel, please visit festival.juggle.org.

For any immediate questions, please reach out to Benjamin Domask-Ruh – YJA Director at: YJA@juggle.org

 

 

Getting to Evansville  Mike Sullivan, Senior Future Festival Site Coordinator

If you’ve never been to Evansville, Indiana, you might be wondering what the best way is to get there.

Well, with Evansville, you have choices!  And not all of them may be obvious, so before you lock in any plans for your travels, check out these options.

Fly to EVV
You can fly to Evansville Regional Airport (EVV) on American Airlines or Delta Airlines.  There are flights from Chicago/O’Hare (ORD), Charlotte Douglass International Airport (CLT), Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport (ATL), and Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport (DFW).  Both carriers operate daily flights from their world hubs and connect to hundreds of cities on five continents.  Check FlightsFrom.com to see the best route to EVV from your city.

Fly & Drive, or Fly & Ride
Some travelers may want to investigate options available by flying to either Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF) or Nashville International Airport (BNA), then riding a bus or renting a car and driving to Evansville.  Evansville is 127 miles from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport and 157 miles from Nashville International Airport.

Both Louisville and Nashville are served by every major US airline, including discount carriers Southwest and Frontier.  You can likely save a bunch on airfare if you don’t mind driving or taking the bus to Evansville from BNA or SDF!

  • From Louisville, take a taxi to downtown (7 miles, ~$25), then take Miller Transportation bus to Evansville.  Total travel time is about three hours and typical fare is around $60.
  • From Nashville, take the local city bus (WeGo Transit Route 18) to downtown Nashville, then take Greyhound bus to Evansville.  Total travel time is around four hours and all-in fare is around $40.

Explore options, routes and fares on Rome2Rio.com.

More info on getting to Evansville is on the IJA Festival’s Location page.

See you in Evansville!

 

 

Downtown Evansville Pub Crawl tickets available  Mike Sullivan

There are more than a dozen jugglers and friends already signed up for a leisurely walking tour and pub crawl through downtown Evansville — but there’s still time for you to join the fun!

The tour is the best way to start your festival week.  Along with a casual stroll through downtown, you’ll get familiar with a dozen or more of the best spots to eat and drink in your festival home for the week.

The tour is set for 2pm Monday afternoon, July 14, 2025, and tickets are available at just $25 each.  But space is limited, so get your tickets today in the IJA Store.

We’ll step off from the lobby of the Doubletree Hotel downtown, then peek into our juggling spaces in the Old National Events Center.  Next, we’ll pop into the gorgeous Victory Theater, site of the evening shows and championships.  We will continue with a leisurely walk through downtown with stops at the best local places to dine and drink, stopping for three cold pints and pointing out how easy it will be to stay fed and hydrated all week!

Downtown Evansville has several hidden gems you will not find on your own, but your tour guide for the afternoon has literally “been there, done that” during three prior visits, and knows every nook and cranny around our festival venues!

The tour is just $25 per person, and includes three local draft beer pints at stops along the way and check-ins in over a dozen other spots close to our IJA venues.  We’ll wind up at a local dinner favorite for an OPTIONAL group dinner with your old and new IJA friends.

So make plans to be in Evansville in time to join us at 2pm on Monday, July 14.  Sign in to your IJA member account at juggle.org, and then click here to buy your tickets!  You’ll receive an email the week prior to the festival with full details on our tour.

See you then!

 

 

Green Clubs for new jugglers  Don Lewis

Toy stores are often full of cheap, imported, juggling equipment.  Some of it is not bad, but most of it is poorly balanced and somewhat dreadful for actual juggling.  There is a world of difference between that stuff and the quality props made for real jugglers.

Beginners don’t know the difference and are unlikely to buy professional grade equipment just to see if they might like juggling.  Most parents won’t spring for high end props for what might be a momentary enthusiasm on the part of their children.

The problem is that the cheap stuff can make it harder to learn in the first place and discourage a nascent enthusiasm.  My first set of juggling clubs were heavy, hard plastic.  Every bad catch banged a nerve in my palms resulting in bruises and temporary numbness.  Luckily, before I was too far along on my juggling journey, someone handed me a set of Dubé clubs with flexible handles and said “try these…”.  What a difference!  No, really – the difference is astonishing.

Quality juggling clubs are made by specialized suppliers to the juggling community.  Of course they are more expensive, and they are worth it.  That still leaves the problem of entry level equipment that is affordable, accessible, and usable.

Enter the Green Club.  This unusual club was developed by Jon Poppele.  Around 2007 he published detailed plans for how to make them.  Greg Phillips then worked with Jon to develop a digital version.  The IJA helped make the plans freely available and supported translations.  Today the Green Club plans are available to everyone at no cost, in English and French on the IJA website.

These are really good clubs!  They recycle plastic bottles and tennis balls.  A piece of wooden dowel, a screw, and some tape complete the project.  If the balance seems a bit off, it is easy to add a steel washer to one end.  I’ve seen versions with confetti in the bottles and also LED light versions.  A set of three of these clubs can be made for as little as ten dollars.

Broomstick and bottle clubs have been around, seemingly forever.  They’re hard on the hands and the bottles don’t survive very long.  Not so with Green Clubs.  The half tennis ball end absorbs the impact of drops, and the flexible handle wrap is kind to your hands.  You can balance them as precisely as you want, although they are pretty good without any modification.

Rather than handing your good clubs to beginners to practice with, give them a set of Green Clubs. They are cheap enough to make that you can simply give them away.  And they mix quite well with other clubs.  I’ve even seen a couple of guys grab ten out of a box and pass them in increasingly complex ways, laughing that it was even possible without their high end precision clubs.

Make a few sets of Green Clubs and give them away!  Encourage the next generation of club passers.  One young fellow who was an expert diaboloist wanted to get into club passing, but was on a very strict student budget.  He only got to practice in the gym with borrowed equipment.  I handed him a set of Green Clubs and said “Practice all you want!”  Some months later he showed up with a set of real clubs.  Green clubs actually encourage sales of good props!

Green Clubs are a great way for people to get into club juggling and passing.  Once beginners prove to themselves that they can juggle, they are willing and able to invest in quality props.  That’s good for all of us.

 

 

YJA Badge BookThe Juggler's Badge Book

Did you know that the IJA’s Youth Juggling Academy has a book?  It does!

The Juggler's Badge Book

The Juggler’s Badge Book is the ultimate companion for aspiring jugglers of any age!  Track your progress, unlock achievements, and earn badges as you learn the art of juggling.  With its engaging format and rewarding sticker system, The Juggler’s Badge Book makes learning to juggle an exciting and fulfilling adventure.  Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned juggler, let The Juggler’s Badge Book be your guide to skillful juggling and a collection of well-earned accomplishments.  Start achieving your juggling journey today!

The Juggler’s Badge Book is $25 and makes a great gift!  Purchase yours today!  Proceeds go to supporting further YJA initiatives and advancing the IJA’s mission to render assistance to fellow jugglers.

Published by the International Jugglers’ Association in collaboration with Modern Vaudeville Press.

 

 

IJA Board meetingsIJA Board meetings

IJA Board meetings are open to all IJA members and are hosted on Zoom.  To find out the times of this month’s vision and business meetings, or to attend, please email ija.chair@juggle.org and say which meeting you’re interested in.

 

 

Upcoming juggling festivals

For a list of upcoming juggling festivals, please visit our friends over at The Juggling Edge.

While you’re there, visit their list of juggling clubs.

 

 

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