Juggling

Juggling is a physical skill performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art, or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipulation of one object or many objects at the same time, most often using one or two hands but other body parts as well, like feet or head. Jugglers often refer to the objects they juggle as props. The most common props are balls, clubs, or rings. Some jugglers use more dramatic objects such as knives, fire torches or chainsaws. The term juggling can also commonly refer to other prop-based manipulation skills, such as diabolo, plate spinning, devil sticks, poi, cigar boxes, contact juggling, hooping, yo-yo, hat manipulation, and kick-ups.

Etymology

The words juggling and juggler derive from the Middle English jogelen ("to entertain by performing tricks"), which in turn is from the Old French jangler. There is also the Late Latin form joculare of Latin joculari, meaning "to jest". Although the etymology of the terms juggler and juggling in the sense of manipulating objects for entertainment originates as far back as the 11th century, the current sense of to juggle, meaning "to continually toss objects in the air and catch them", originates from the late 19th century.

From the 12th to the 17th century, juggling and juggler were the terms most consistently used to describe acts of magic, though some have called the term juggling a lexicographical nightmare, stating that it is one of the least understood relating to magic. In the 21st century, the term juggling usually refers to toss juggling, where objects are continuously thrown into the air and caught again, repeating in a rhythmical pattern.

According to James Ernest in his book "Contact Juggling", most people will describe juggling as "throwing and catching things"; however, a juggler might describe the act as "a visually complex or physically challenging feat using one or more objects". David Levinson and Karen Christensen describe juggling as "the sport of tossing and catching or manipulating objects [...] keeping them in constant motion". "Juggling, like music, combines abstract patterns and mind-body coordination in a pleasing way."

Origins and history

Ancient to 20th century

This ancient wall painting appears to depict jugglers. It was found in the 15th tomb of the Karyssa I area, Egypt. According to Dr. Bianchi, associate curator of the Brooklyn Museum "In tomb 15, the prince is looking on to things he enjoyed in life that he wishes to take to the next world. The fact that jugglers are represented in a tomb suggests religious significance." ... "round things were used to represent large solar objects, birth, and death."

The earliest record of juggling is suggested in a panel from the 15th (1994 to 1781 B.C.) Beni Hasan tomb of an unknown Egyptian prince, showing female dancers and acrobats throwing balls. Juggling has been recorded in many early cultures including Egyptian, Nabataean, Chinese, Indian, Greek, Roman, Norse, Aztec (Mexico) and Polynesian civilizations.

Juggling was an art in ancient China performed by some warriors. One such warrior was Xiong Yiliao, whose juggling of nine balls in front of troops on a battlefield reportedly caused the opposing troops to flee without fighting, resulting in a complete victory.

In Europe, juggling was an acceptable diversion until the decline of the Roman Empire, after which the activity 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. Since then, jugglers have been associated with circuses.

In the early 19th century, troupes from Asia, such as the famous "Indian Jugglers" referred to by William Hazlitt, arrived to tour Britain, Europe and parts of America.

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

In the early to mid-20th century, variety and vaudeville shows decreased in popularity due to competition from motion picture theatres, radio and television, and juggling suffered as a result. Music and comedy transferred very easily to radio, but juggling could not. In the early years of TV, when variety-style programming was 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 cannot get other people to learn new skills on their behalf.

The International Jugglers' Association, founded in 1947, began as an association for professional vaudeville jugglers, but restrictions for membership were eventually changed, and non-performers were permitted to join and attend the annual conventions. The IJA continues to hold an annual convention each summer and runs a number of other programs dedicated to advance the art of juggling worldwide.

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 and to get jugglers together and celebrate. It is held on the Saturday in June closest to the 17th, the founding date of the International Jugglers' Association.

Most cities and large towns now have juggling clubs. These are often based within, or connected to, universities and colleges. Community circus groups also teach young people and put on shows. The Juggling Edge maintains a searchable database of most juggling clubs.

Since the 1980s, a juggling culture has developed. The scene revolves around local clubs and organizations, special events, shows, magazines, websites, internet forums, and, possibly most importantly, juggling conventions. In recent years, there has also been a growing focus on juggling competitions. Juggling today has evolved and branched out to the point where it is synonymous with all prop manipulation. The wide variety of the juggling scene can be seen at any juggling convention.

Juggling conventions or festivals form the backbone of the juggling scene. The focus of most of these conventions is the main space used 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.

Popular forms

Juggling can be categorized by various criteria:

Professional or amateur

Juggling has been principally practiced as a profession since the latter half of the 20th century. Since the 1960s, and even more so from the 1980s, juggling has also been practiced as a hobby. The popularity of juggling acts performed outside the circus has meant an increase in the number of professional jugglers in the last thirty years. Festivals, fairs, retail promotions and corporate events have all booked juggling acts. The increase in hobby juggling has resulted in juggling stores opening and numerous juggling conventions being run to fulfill the needs of an increasingly popular pastime.

Objects juggled

Balls, clubs, rings, diabolos, devil sticks, shaker cups, and cigar boxes are several types of objects that are commonly juggled. Other objects, such as scarves, knives, fruits and vegetables, flaming torches, chainsaws, and toilet plungers, have also been used.

Method of juggling

The best-known type of juggling is toss, which involves throwing and catching objects in the air without them touching the ground. Bounce juggling involves bouncing objects (usually balls) off the ground. Contact juggling involves manipulating an object in constant contact with the body. Juggling is divided by method into toss, balancing (equilibristics), gyroscopic (spin), and contact juggling.

Trick juggling

This type of juggling involves performing tricks of varying levels of difficulty. The tricks can use the basic patterns of toss juggling but add more difficult levels of object manipulation. Other tricks can be independent of these basic patterns and involve other variations of object manipulation. Many patterns and tricks can be described using Siteswap Notation and is commonly used to share patterns between Jugglers.

Number of objects juggled

Numbers juggling is the goal of juggling as many objects as possible. This is often the initial goal of beginner jugglers, as it is commonly seen in the circus and stage juggling acts. Numbers juggling records are noted by a number of organizations.

Number of jugglers

Juggling is most commonly performed by an individual. However, multiple-person juggling is also popular and is performed by two or more people. Various methods of passing the objects between the jugglers are used — this can be through the air (as in toss juggling), bounced off the ground, simply handed over, or a number of other ways depending on the objects and the style of juggling. For example, one variation is where two club jugglers stand facing each other, each juggling a three-club pattern, but simultaneously passing between each other. Another variation is where the jugglers are back-to-back, and (usually) any passes to the other person travel over their heads.

Sport (competitive) juggling

Juggling has more recently developed as a competitive sport by organizations such as the World Juggling Federation. Sport juggling competitions reward pure technical ability and give no extra credit for showmanship or for juggling with props such as knives or torches. Albert Lucas created the first sport juggling organization in the early nineties − the International Sport Juggling Federation, which promotes joggling and other athletic forms of juggling.

Venues

Circus

Jugglers commonly appear in circuses, and many performers have enjoyed star billing. Circus jugglers come from many countries, including Russia and other Eastern European countries, China, Latin America, and other European countries. Some of the greatest jugglers from the past 50 years are from Eastern Europe, including Sergej Ignatov, Andrii Kolesnikov, Evgenij Biljauer, Lottie Brunn and Gregory Popovich.

Variety theatres

Variety theatres have a long history of including juggling acts on their billing. Vaudeville in the USA and Music halls in the UK regularly featured jugglers during the heyday of variety theatre in the first half of the 20th century. Variety theatre has declined in popularity but is still present in many European countries, particularly Germany. Television talent shows have introduced juggling acts to a wider audience, with the newest examples being Britain's Got Talent and America's Got Talent.

Casinos

In North America, jugglers have often performed in casinos and places like Las Vegas. Germany and the United States have produced some of the greatest jugglers from the past 50 years, most notably Francis Brunn from Germany and Anthony Gatto from the United States.

Festivals and fairs

There is a wide variety of festivals and fairs where juggling acts are sometimes booked to perform. Music, food, and arts festivals have all booked professional performers. The festivals can range from very large-scale events, such as the Glastonbury Festival, to small-town or village fairs. The acts may differ from year to year, or a single act may become a regular feature at these yearly events.

Historically themed events

Renaissance fairs in North America and medieval fairs in Europe often book professional jugglers. Other historically themed events, such as Victorian, maritime, and large-scale festivals of history, such as the one organised by English Heritage, regularly employ juggling acts as part of the event.

Street performance

A street performer juggling torches in Devizes, Wiltshire In many countries such as the UK, USA, Australia, Spain, and France, jugglers perform on the street (busking). Street juggling acts usually perform what is known as a circle show and collect money at the end of the performance in a hat or bottle. Most street jugglers perform comedy juggling acts. Well-known locations for this kind of street performance include Covent Garden in London, Faneuil Hall in Boston, Outside the Pump Rooms in Bath, Prince's Street in Edinburgh, outside the Pompidou Centre in Paris, Circular Quay in Sydney, Pearl Street in Boulder.

Space

Juggling has been performed in space despite the fact that the micro-gravity environment of orbit deprives the juggled objects of the essential ability to fall. This was accomplished initially by Don Williams as part of a Houston scientist's "Toys In Space" project, with apples and oranges.

Two people juggling and passing multiple objects between them was first accomplished in space by Greg Chamitoff and Richard Garriott while Garriott was visiting the International Space Station as a Spaceflight Participant in October 2008. Their juggling of objects while in orbit was featured in Apogee of Fear, the first science fiction movie made in space by Garriott and 'Zero-G Magic', a magic show also recorded in space by Chamitoff and Garriott at that time.

External links

More information is available at [ Wikipedia:Juggling ]

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