The Juggling Equipment Blog

Name: Alvaro Palominas
Country: Chile
Age: 25
Favorite prop: Balls and rings
Started Juggling: when I was 12
Currently working on: 9 ball cascade and 7 balls over head.
Website: www.alvaropalominos.cl

Short Bio:
I’m a juggler of high numbers, I like tricks with 5, 6 and 7 balls, and records with 8, 9 and 10 balls. Now I’m playing rings too, I like the pancake throws, I did 7 throws with 7 rings some days ago.
Defining moment in my juggling history: Getting more skills and teaching to other jugglers. I’m working in a personal DVD with real theory of juggling.

Spoiler! »

Favorite Cereal: Quaker (muesli with fruits)
3 things you didnt know about me:
1. I have a girlfriend since 10 years :O
2. I learned alone, I was working in my 7 tennis balls when I met other jugglers!
3. I can solve the rubik cube in 30 sec and run 10kms in 45 minutes
If I werent a juggler, I would be: nothing.
Time it took me to learn 5 balls: I learned 3 in 1997, and 4 balls in 1998. I stop to juggle some years and in 2001 I saw Bruce Tiemman in internet with 8, 9, 10 and 11 balls! then I did 5, 6, 7 and a flash with 8 balls that year!, 9 and 10 balls in 2002 and 11 balls in 2003
Is juggling sport or art? Juggling for me is both, but is boring if is only sport or art.
If I were a juggling equipment, I would be: Mmm a rolling ball, because I like to play with many friends
Jugglers in my family: My father can do 3 balls!
Juggling equipment that has not been invented yet: Pyramid cigar box lol
Famous juggler i’d love to pass with: I want to do passing with Sergei Ignatov and Anthony Gatto.
after the invention of a time machine – what advice would you give to your younger self? Boy, It’s a hard road but don’t exist limits. You will have to practice a lot and use your mind too. Enjoy all the process

Meg came up with an idea – a virtual HomeOfPoi christmas tree where everyone would put their spinning videos on Christmas day. This is the video I made, enjoy

Merry Christmas everyone

The JugglingEquipment team would like to wish all of you celebrating a merry merry Xmas. May you find your favorite juggling prop under the tree!

Name: Eric Longequel
Country: France
Age: 28
Favorite prop: Balls
Started Juggling: when I was 10
Currently working on: 5 balls frontcrosses, but it doesn’t work!
Websites: ciepresquenulle – filophile – cieeaeo

Short Bio:
started juggling at ten, and became professional at 24. I leant about juggling on stage at la FAAAC (alternative selfmanaged circus workshops), and now work in 3 companies : Filophile (diabolo duet), Ea Eo (4 people, balls and clubs), Presque Nulle (solo, balls and diabolo)
Defining moment in my juggling history: seeing Morgan’s Cosquer’s act in Poitier, september 05.

Spoiler! »

Favorite Cereal: muesli with white and black chocolate.
3 things you didnt know about me:
1.Before I was a juggler, I was an engineer, working in medical imaging (X-rays and stuff)
2. My favourite juggling act, besides Morgan’s, is “Mars 07″ by Collectif Martine à la Plage
3. I can juggle 3 clubs
If I werent a juggler, I would be: Engineer in medical imaging!
Time it took me to learn 5 balls: Flash didn’t take too long, but 2 months before I could juggle for a few seconds.
Is juggling sport or art? It can be an art.
If I were a juggling equipment, I would be: Clubs : more chance to be juggled by a woman
Jugglers in my family: Nobody.
Juggling equipment that has not been invented yet: Balls that fall quicker than normal balls.
Famous juggler i’d love to pass with: Jean-Daniel Fricker.
after the invention of a time machine – what advice would you give to your younger self?
Forget diabolo, and work on balls ! And take dance lessons !

From the makers of “Ship Of Juggling” and “Juggling 13” comes the next big hit!
The Greek group gets an addition in the form of Till (aka Hercules).
A must see!

this video must have taken a lot of time to make – just watch the number of balls lying in the background at 2:02

Name: Nate Sharpe
Country:USA (UK right now though)
Age:21
Favorite prop:Diabolo
Started Juggling:12
Currently working on: All the basic 3 low tricks (42, 42 sun, box, around the leg, etc.)
Website: www.steinsharpe.com

Short Bio:
Grew up in Massachusetts, learned to get a diabolo started from my dad at around age 8. Didn’t learn anything more until attending Circus Smirkus summer camp at age 12. Really started practicing after deciding to audition for the touring Smirkus show at age 16 with my brother Jacob. After another year with Smirkus, Jacob and I took our act to the Paris Festival, won a few prizes, and from there are career slowly started. Since then we’ve performed at numerous festivals, birthday parties, half time shows, and corporate events. We even tried our hands at street performing last summer and it was over too quickly.
Defining moment in my juggling history: Deciding to audition for Circus Smirkus

Spoiler! »

Favorite Cereal:Kashi Go Lean Crunch
If I werent a juggler, I would be:A mechanical engineer. Oh wait…I’m both. Um. A hand balancer.
Time it took me to learn 5 balls: 2 years
Is juggling sport or art? I think juggling is whatever you make it. For some it is a hobby, for some it is stress relief, for some a serious sport, and for some an art form. I don’t feel the need to put it in any one box.
If I were a juggling equipment, I would be: Mr. Babache Finesse G2. Classic, lasts forever, ages gracefully.
Jugglers in my family: Dad and brother (Jacob)
Juggling equipment that has not been invented yet: The perfect diabolo sticks.
Famous juggler i’d love to pass with: Ofek and Segev Shilton. Jacob, me, and them could get some sort of crazy 14 or 15 diabolo passing pattern going.
after the invention of a time machine – what advice would you give to your younger self?
Don’t get discouraged by how freaking hard 3 low is!

You can never know how’s your show’s volunteer would be like.
Take a look at this one -

As I have mentioned in previous posts, Levanger stands out as a pretty strong juggling community with about 22 active jugglers attending the weekly juggling meetings. As it happens, I am their coach(yes, I get paid for that) and so I hold the keys to the gym where we practice.

Last year, 6-7 of these youngsters had got together for something that they called “Maximum Juggling Night” where they hung out and juggled for a full day and a full night, also watching juggling videos and the likes. Of course, they asked me to organise a repeat of it. But seeing as I have the keys for a gym, why not stay in the gym instead…? Splendid idea! So we did.

But once we were at it, we thought we might as well invite the rest of the 22 jugglers to come. And they did. But in the process of organising this, it became obvious to me that making it a full weekend would be a lot more fun, and so I stretched the name of the “event” and called it the “Maximum Juggling Weekend”.

So far so good – we were expecting about 23 people for the weekend, and I made a Facebook page. And quite soon it was obvious that a bit more people would turn up – the numbers soon hit 35, and with a free gym and no entry fee, I thought this was great. We were paying nothing but my free time for an event that “lots” of people would enjoy. In the end, it turned out that 40 people had attended in total, and looking back at this post, it seems that this which was pretty much just a “7 people hang out for a full day and night” that turned into “40 people get together for a weekend of fun”. And all of it was free.

Now what of this kind have YOU done lately? Get organising! Put together these juggling meetings for yourself and your friends. People came to our event travelling over 10 hours by train when they didn’t even know anything about the venue or the people there – what change would be brought about to the juggling community if every other club would do this a couple times a year?

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Part 2:

Name: Hans Vanwynsberghe
Country: Belgium
Age: 29
Favorite prop: plungers
Started Juggling: 15 (age)
Currently working on: juggling 5 plungers while standing on the slack rope, and keeping a sixth standing on the head
Website: www.shakethat.be

Short Bio:

I discovered juggling at the age of 15, together with a friend Guy Waerenburgh, who also became a professional juggler. I got addicted to juggling as soon as I started. A few months later I already performed my first juggling shows together with guy under the name Gravité. A few years later Gravité performed on the European convention …  At 18 I decided to study engineering which I successfully ended 5 years later. While studying I started teaching juggling, trained as never before and made a solo juggling street show. Six months after graduating, while training on the trampoline, I broke my back. While recovering in bed I wrote a juggling encyclopedia: “addicted to juggling” At first I seemed to recover perfectly and four months later I already performed again.

However the pain in the back didn’t stop and even got bigger year by year. Two years later, during the creation of the ShakeThat show and during the making of the juggling DVD: “Addicted to Juggling”, I had to stay in bed most of the time and take painkillers all day long. While searching for a doctor who could explain the pain, it went worse and worse. Three years after the accident I had so much pain that painkillers couldn’t stop it anymore. I couldn’t sleep almost nothing anymore, gave up blood due to the overdose of painkillers, I was exhausted, pale and very skinny… Luckily I finally found a clinic specialized in Chronic pain which finally found the reason and the cure. It was a long process but nowadays I can live normal again, although I will never be able to stand or sit long and I need to train the back  every day.

Defining moment in my juggling history: At the age of 17, me and two friends locked ourselves up in a gym for one month, with only a camera, a television and lots of juggling-tricks. In one month we made our first good juggling show. 

Favorite Cereal: I love them all, except those breakfast cereals full of sugar.
3 things you didn’t know about me:
1. I speak about 8 languages (westvloams, dutch, english french, spanish and some romanes, italian, portugese and german)
2. I’m now working on a book about Gypsies in Western Europe.
3. I like to perform in third world countries. Walking from village to village with a backpack-show.
If I weren’t a juggler, I would be: children’s playground designer
Time it took me to learn 5 balls: from not being able to juggle three balls to having a good 5 balls, about a year and a half.
Is juggling sport or art? Juggling is an ancient art. Some jugglers have recently tried to create a sport based on juggling, but for an unknown reason they haven’t managed to create a name for there sport, giving it the same name as the art on which the sport is based: juggling. the acrobats who have done the same some hundred years ago with acrobatics, and which stands as an example for those “sport-jugglers” have found the word Gymnastics for their sport. Why can’t sport-jugglers invent a name for their thing so that this absurd and stupid discussion could stop.
If I were a juggling equipment, I would be: a plunger
Jugglers in my family: only me.
Juggling equipment that has not been invented yet: future will prove that lots of juggling props still need to be discovered know. I have some ideas …
Famous juggler I’d love to pass with: no one in particular. I guess anthony gatho or Jay gilligan.
after the invention of a time machine – what advice would you give to your younger self?
train more, but warm up before you get tendinitis.

3 students from Danshögskolan circus program in stockholm in a battle for a bottle of wine.
Wes Peden, Patrik Elmnert and Ron Beeri together with an amazing live music creates epicness.

To know more about how this epicness was created, check out Wes’s explanation, as written at rec.juggling:
“A lady we know was hired to direct circus acts to match the music that was going to be performed by Carmina Burana. She said the lyrics of the song are talking about drinking and how everyone does it so she said to use a bottle. we though it would be more fun with chairs and a table so we suggested that and she was fine with it.

The show was quite soon and we were having juggling class the whole days so we only had 4 rehearsals of two hours each to make the piece.

I’ll give you the break down.

- We started by making a short sequence because it was fun and give us an idea of what the objects could do.

- We then listened to the whole song a bunch of times to try and see when we needed big stuff and small stuff and to get inspired by the music.

- We proceeded to go through the song bit by bit trying to make manipulation that fit the music.

Since we all have done manipulation before it was not so so hard to find things to do with the object that would flow together.

The main things we went for was a feeling of importance to the bottle, a build up of the intensity in the piece, and for the things we did no not be so complex that a non juggler couldn’t appreciate
them.

since we had such a short time i don’t think there was so much we made that we didn’t use. maybe a few tricks but no full sequence that we could b-side to you unfortunately.”

/wes