U.S. Nationals                

Grace, youth and the pursuit of eleventh place. . .

The hat draw for starting positions in the U.S. Nationals led to Jon Beckner finding himself in the middle of a championship sandwich.

 

Leading up to his routine were competitors who ended up winning fourth, third and first places. And after him came the second place winner, nine-year old Anthony Gatto of Ellicott City, MD.

 

It was a tough spot to be in, but Beckner filled it with some odd and delicate three ball moves, along with his trademark back-of-the-neck­across-the-top-of-the-head-to-the- forehead one ball roll tricks. He finished the routine with a neck catch from a seven ball cascade, which alone would have won him competitions in most gymnasiums across the country.

 

But this was the IJA U.S. Nationals, and tremendous talent shared the stage. Peter Davison, the grand prize winner, preceded Beckner on stage and performed head rolls of equal difficulty, but faster and more precisely.

 

Davison juggled a finely choreographed act using up to five balls and five clubs. Dressed to communicate the air of casual confidence and frivolity he exudes, Davison's routine matched the music beat for beat; the grace of his dance enhanced by the visual harmony and counter play which he directed of his props.

 

One of his tricks was bouncing five balls off the floor continually under each leg. They were carried into the air non-stop to a cascade, changed to a shower, and tossed continually with his right hand under his right shoulder. He did four clubs with continuous shoulder throws, then five clubs finishing with back crosses.

 

The night before the U.S. Nationals, conventioneers watched a 30-minute, 16-mm movie of Bobby May brought from Cleveland by Alan Howard. During competitions the next day, many were likening Davison's style to that of May, the Gentleman Juggler. Davison admitted the similarity, and said he first began practicing head rolls after Edward Jackman described the move from a film of May.

 

That was in 1976, when the two met at Davison's first-ever street show, at the Los Angeles County Art Museum. A native of Santa Monica, CA, he learned to juggle eight years ago in seventh grade after searching out an instructional book on the subject in the library.

 

He got tremendous help with the world beyond the three ball cascade from Boy Foy, an ageing entertainer who taught juggling classes that Davison took in 1975. "That's where I learned clubs, rings, the unicycle and a lot of balance tricks," he said. "Boy Foy also had a tremendous portfolio of pictures and articles of famous jugglers that was very inspiring."

 

Davison began performing magic and juggling with a school troupe, and then hit the streets in Los Angeles. "I got another tremendous jolt of inspiration meeting Ed Jackman, and learned about the IJA and monthly Los Angeles juggling get-togethers from him," Davison said.

 

The next jolt of inspiration carne in 1978, when he attended his first IJA convention in Eugene, OR. He has since been to the Amherst, Fargo and Santa Barbara gatherings, missing only Cleveland in 1981.   He will be back in the future, but says he won't compete in the U.S. Nationals again.

 

"I did three competitions this year, and that was a bit much," he explained. "It was really exhausting, and didn't allow me to relax and see friends as much as I wanted because I was rehearsing and thinking about my act. "

 

Davison's retirement may be all that this year's second place finisher, Anthony Gatto, needs to win first place next year. Everyone who witnessed Gatto's performance in Cleveland last year or Santa Barbara this year agrees that the IJA has never enrolled such a member. In­stead of entering the Juniors competition year, which he won last year, Gatto took on the pros at this convention and beat all but Davison.