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New Yorkers Treated To Juggling Troupes

By Gene Jones, IJA President

New York City has long been regarded as a city of great accomplishment and controversy. Although violence and turmoil often grab front page headlines, the 'Big Apple' serves as a pillar of strength for many significant aspects of 20th century life.

Wall Street is the financial capital of the world, Broadway is unquestionably the mainstay of international theatre, and for three decades Madison Square Garden has been described as the 'Mecca of Sports.' Truly, New York City is a mecca for many endeavors, most notably the performing arts.

Any declaration that New York is becoming the 'home' of juggling would be premature, but it is definitely emerging as an international juggling center. The evidence mounts...

Since October, at least nine well-known juggling acts have performed in the Big Apple, in addition to a sparkling production of the musical Barnum at An Evening Dinner Theatre in nearby Emsford. Meanwhile, the Dube studio continues to serve as a meeting ground for local and visiting jugglers by offering free weekly juggling workshops.

Many top professionals, such as Francis Brunn, Lottie Brunn, Michael Moschen, Michael Davis, and Hovey Burgess reside in the New York area. These factors, plus the rapid growth of the Big Apple Circus and its school, have resulted in a diverse juggling community that interacts productively .

Working opportunities for jugglers are also increasing in a wide variety of situations ranging from night clubs to theatres, street performing to private parties. In October, the Flying Karamazov Brothers played to capacity crowds and rave reviews at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Rumors are now circulating that they will soon return to attempt a run on Broadway, which would be a significant pioneer achievement.

In the night clubs, Dick Franco recently concluded a very successful run at the Cafe Versailles, performing his fast-moving routines with three balls, three, four, five, six and seven rings, three clubs followed by a kick-up to four clubs, and a climactic finish juggling three ping pong balls with his mouth.

The diverse four-man variety show Slap Happy, featuring IJA member Alan Jacobs, continues to thrive at The Other End in Greenwich Village.. Another Boston-based group, The Amazing Fantasy Jugglers, made a brief appearance at the Barbizon Plaza Hotel where they awed a wildly enthusiastic audience of IBM employees.

Brooklyn resident and former UA champion Jay Greene continues to perform all around the New York area, while New York's newest resident company, The No Elephant Circus, has made numerous local appearances between national tours. Internationally acclaimed juggler Michael Chirrick arrived in town with the Harlem Globetrotters for shows at Madison Square Garden and the Meadowlands this February. After a triumphant tour of Spain, Fred 'Garbo' Garver, Michael Moschen, and Bob Berky open their new show, Fool's Fire, on March I7 at the Dance Theatre Workshop.

American jugglers are unfamiliar with the work of Michael Chirrick, who has spent most of his performing years in Europe. Chirrick's flawless acrobatic ball spinning and balancing act proved both technically impressive and entertaining as he demonstrated great showmanship in relating to large arena crowds.

Unquestionably, The Big Apple Circus has had the greatest impact on New York in the area of circus-related skills. After operating on a grass roots level for four years, The Big Apple Circus moved 'uptown' to Lincoln Center last Christmas and returned this year with a much slicker production featuring several superb European acts. Paul Binder proved himself to be an excellent ringmaster, smoothly transitioning the acts in a classy manner more reminiscent of a master of ceremonies than a standard circus barker. Toward the end of the show, Binder teamed up with long-time partner Michael Christensen to perform their extremely polished and humorous club, chicken and hat passing routine. Also featured in the show was Koma Zuru, the incredible Japanese top spinner and balancing artist.

As The Big Apple Circus' Christmas run becomes an institution at Lincoln Center, so does its circus school at 104th Street and Madison Avenue. The school has been quietly training inner-city children in circus skills for the past five years in a sincere effort to educate the general public about the methods of European circus.

Jugglers planning to attend this summer's IJA Annual Convention would be well-advised to allow a few extra days to explore New York's plethora of street performing opportunities and exceptional theatres. The convention itself promises to be attended by a number of top professional jugglers as the ambiance of the Big Apple's juggling constituency prepares to move 20 miles north to the campus of SUNY I Purchase.