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AIRJAZZ

With their roots in the IJA and juggling's 1970s renaissance period, three jugglers are emerging as entertainment leaders of the 1980s and beyond as the group Airjazz.

Peter Davison, Jon Held and Kezia Tenenbaum - all just over 20 years old with about seven years juggling experience each - have focused the energy, enthusiasm and experience they gained in earlier years on a commitment to each other and success as a professional juggling team. Now living in Boulder, CO, these winners of the IJA's team championship gaze far beyond the Rocky Mountain region when dreaming about their future.

Davison mused, "Our ideal situation would be to have our own theatre and do a show all by ourselves."

Their plans for reaching that goal are somewhat amorphous at this point, however, except for plans to "get out of the Boulder/Denver area as soon as possible, " travel to Europe next spring and maybe perform as the opening act for a travelling show.

They're not inclined toward planning their course at this point. A firm commitment to stick together, and steadily increasing numbers of bookings provide the confidence needed to feel confident about the uncharted future. They are wary of agents, and content to book their own work at this point.

"There's a commitment between us unlike any that we've individually made to juggling teams in the past," said Tenenbaum. "We feel like it's now or never again. If we stay together we know we can do what we want, which is to travel and perform. ..

Davison, a triple winner in this year's IJA competitions, echoed the same sentiment. "I've worked with other people before, but it never worked out in the long run because I always had it in the back of my mind to go solo. But last winter, after the three of us got together, I sat down and thought for about a week and decided what I really want to do is Airjazz. ..

Davison and Tenenbaum have worked together on and off for more than two years, after originally meeting at the IJA 's Eugene convention in 1978. They performed for a time with Barrett Felker as the group "Magnificent Material Movers," which won the 1980 IJA team championships in Fargo, ND. The club passing act performed there provided the structure and style for Airjazz's competition routine this year.

Held joined those three in the summer of 1981, and they performed together as the Boulder Juggling Company. But the group dissolved when Felker left to do a halftime act with the Harlem Globetrotters and Held and Tenenbaum went to Seattle to work with Jugglebug's public schools education program.

Davison joined them for a special charity event in Seattle in January and they drove back to Boulder together with a good feeling about each other and teamwork in mind.

"We're very close friends indeed," said Held. "We do a lot of things together besides our juggling, but the part of us that's Airjazz occupies four to five hours per day. "

That time is divided between individual workouts and teamwork in the University of Colorado gymnasium. What makes them good, Tenenbaum said, is their individual talent and understanding of "theatrical things."

"I feel like we've taken juggling moves and extended them into dance," she said.

The secret of the smooth flow of bodies and clubs they project on stage is no secret at all they practice until they can perform without thinking about it. Tenenbaum has been taking dance lessons since age nine, and Davison has studied tap dancing and modern dance. The routine is likely to incorporate even more dance in the future, Tenenbaum said.

The club routine evolved from the old Magnificient Material Movers act. Pieces of that were mixed with new passing patterns and transition movements. Background music was added only after the moves were choreographed. Then, further juggling and dance moves were added as deemed appropriate to enhance the music and polish the act.

But club passing is not all that Airjazz does.

Their complete show includes Davison's three ball routine and a cigar box duo to the tune of "Dueling Banjos" performed by Tenenbaum and Held. Tenenbaum and Davison do a comedy machete routine, picking up and passing six. Davison and Held manipulate hats, as well as passing tennis rackets from atop unicycles.

All three will be involved in a synchronized torch swinging routine now being formulated.

Airjazz is a unique example of an IJA success story, of three individuals who met through the organization and became professional entertainers. They continue to enjoy their IJA friends, and regularly return to conventions to share their talent and performances with conventioneers.

The IJA is now proud to have them performing for the general public as its champions in the long months between annual gatherings.