Contact juggling
Contact juggling is a form of object manipulation that focuses on the movement of objects such as balls in permanent contact with the body. Having little in common with "toss" juggling, it most typically involves the rolling of one or more completely transparent balls on the hands and arms to create visual illusions, such as that of a ball fixed in space. It is divided into three main schools of technique:
- bodyrolling is the manipulation of one or more props (usually spheres) around the hands, arms, and body, usually without the prop(s) ever being thrown into the air.
- palmspinning is the manipulation of two or more spheres in each hand wherein at least one sphere is always in continual motion. Spheres may be transferred from one hand to another to form graceful and fluid patterns, but rarely are they ever released into the air.
- isolationism is categorized by manipulation of usually one prop (again, a sphere of some sort or other toy such as firestaff) such that the prop appears to be suspended in time and place while the performer dances around it, usually in the Popping and locking styles.
Contact juggling is also known by other names, including "static juggling", "sphereplay", "orb rolling" and "dynamic manipulation". [citation needed]
History
Contact juggling in its modern popular form originated with a juggling routine developed by Michael Moschen in the 1980s, entitled "Light". [citation needed] In this performance, Michael Moschen finishes the act by manipulating a single water-clear acrylic sphere without ever closing his hands over it. The sphere appeared to float over his hands and arms as if it were a drop of water or a ball of light. Some of the various single ball manipulations (balancing a ball on one's head, for example) existed long before Moschen's time. What made this performance unique was the use of the clear acrylic as the only prop, and the palmspinning, where Moschen manipulated up to eight spheres simultaneously, without ever releasing one into the air, as would a traditional juggling performer.
In 1991 shortly after the video "Michael Moschen: In Motion" was released, James Ernest, a games developer, wrote the book "Contact Juggling"[1]. James may be the originator of the term "Contact Juggling", as Michael did not have a name for what he did (in the credits of the Labyrinth film, for example, he is credited with "crystal ball manipulation"). [citation needed] However, Moschen coined the term "Dynamic manipulation" and unsuccessfully strove to have it adopted by the community. [citation needed]
In the 1986 film Labyrinth, David Bowie's character is seen to contact juggle throughout the film. These manipulations were actually performed by Moschen who stood behind Bowie during filming, reaching around and performing the tricks 'blind'. [citation needed] This film showcased the new discipline and helped it gain popularity. [citation needed]
The style of juggling has received further popularization through instructional materials and performances developed by jugglers other than Michael Moschen, but which refer to props as well as manipulations that he created and performs. This apparently led to some contention within the juggling community in the 1990s regarding whether Moschen's ideas were being 'ripped off' by copycat performers. [citation needed]
By 2000 the discipline had achieved widespread recognition and there were many resources available for contact jugglers, such as clubs, books, videos/DVDs and balls specifically manufactured for contact juggling. [citation needed]
Contact juggling community
Many contact jugglers also practice other disciplines such as toss juggling and many jugglers can perform one or two basic contact juggling moves, even if it is not their favoured discipline. [citation needed] Originally there were very few sites devoted to the art of contact juggling, so most contact jugglers were closely associated with other juggling styles and lurked in toss juggling and circus skills communities and forums. The online community presence of contact juggling began with a Yahoo! discussion group in late 1999. Now there are a variety of groups focusing on contact juggling. [citation needed]
Gujamin of the contactjuggling Yahoo discussion group proposed the idea of a contact juggling convention and various locations were proposed, ultimately settling on Florida as the location for the first convention in Sept. 2001. The first convention was funded and organized by a contact juggler named Ferret, and had an attendance of only about 35 people. Rich Shumaker helped Ferret with this convention and filmed the ill-fated competition. Future Contact Juggling conventions in 2002 and 2003 did not have competitions. In 2003 a public performance was created to allow performers the ability to show what they have been working on. [citation needed]
Two attendees named Daniel Kerr and Andy Wilson would later go on to organize the first convention in Europe, the British contact juggling convention. In 2003, the first British contact juggling convention was held in Scotland. [citation needed]
Contact jugglers are now commonly found at all juggling conventions. [citation needed]
Notes
- ^ James Ernest. The Contact Juggling Book. ISBN 978-0963405401 Published 1991
See also
External links
- ContactJuggling.org
- ContactJuggling.com
- Contact Juggling at Curlie
- Contact Juggling Basics at Wikihow
- A Promotional video for The Orb's Pomme Fritz album, featuring contact juggling.
- The BCJC 2003 on Scottish TV