Page 7 January - February 1978
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CIRCUS
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Swiss
juggler Kris Kremo won the juggling category of the "Circus World
Championships" here with his masterful manipulation of balls, cigar
boxes, and hats. His 182 points outdistanced Bob Bramson of West
Germany, who does lots of strange things with bicycle wheel type hoops
(175 points), and Victor Ponce of Argentina, who climaxes his act by juggling
small sombrero-shaped straw hats ( 135 points). Those
who have seen Kremo's act will remember it, and those who have not seen it
cannot imagine how good he
can make three balls, hats, and boxes look. He specialises in speed,
especially with lacrosse balls. The standard moves are tight, close in
and so fast he makes another juggler doing exactly the same moves appear
as if he is doing something other than juggling. The best part of his
handling of three red, short top-hats is his multiple bounces on top of
his head, often flipping the hat over and back, before it settles down.
In the cigar box routine speed is also of the essence. The climax of
this bit, and of the whole act, is his leaving the three boxes in the
air in front of him, doing a double pirouette and catching them before
they hit the ground, then following this by leaving the middle box and
doing a triple pirouette.
He
studied pirouetting for a few years with a ballet master in perfecting
this trick. Kremo, 26, does almost exactly the same act as his father,
Bella, who retired recently in his sixties. The younger artist told this
reporter he has to practice "only" three to four hours a day
to keep in form. Middle-aged
Bob Bramson has been doing the same act for years, more manipulation of
hoops than straight juggling, although he does a bit of that too. He
finishes by sending one hoop after another rolling off in a wide
circular path, completely around a
wire mesh cage, and into a small entrance as if they were dogs going
home to dinner.
Victor
Ponce, an engaging lad in his late 20's, estimates his South American
circus family as numbering 50 people -- he grew up as part of an
acrobatic act but switched to juggling some six years ago.
He
began his act with long-handled, unknobbed clubs with which he did lots
of kick-ups, then switched to standard European
clubs, ending with five up. He did not simply cascade the straw hats,
but threw them behind his back and. under his legs as if they were
clubs, providing a flashy finish.
Each
juggler competed twice, on different nights, each time against a
different juggler. A panel
of five circus owners awarded them 0-10 point -- both on content of the
act and on presentation. They needed the IJA's own
Roger Dollarhide there to formalize things a bit.
Of
course, it was not really a "circus world
championship" -- where was Ignatov, for one? -- but rather
some of the better acts available at the time. Ponce was obtained only
a few days before the show opened. But it was an improvement on last
year, and could develop into something befitting its name. --Lloyd
Timberlake COAST
GUARD ACADEMY GET-TOGETHER The
Coast Guard Academy Juggling Club is sponsoring its second annual
indoor, regional juggling convention at the Academy beginning at noon on
Sunday, March 5, 1978. Last year's convention, which was held February
13, 1977, was a big success, breaking up the monotony of winter with a
well attended event which was enjoyed by all. The
convention will again be in the Academy's newest indoor track facility,
Roland Hall, which is "perfect for juggling -- very roomy,
heated, welllighted, with a padded floor, and a ceiling about a mile
high." All juggling groups and individuals are enthusiastically
invited to participate. Plenty of free parking is available. For
more information, contact Jim Stricker,SCGA, New London, CT. |