Women's Forum

The first annual IJA Womens Forum convened Friday night of the convention in a comfortable conference room high atop the Showboat Hotel's 140-plus bowling alleys. The gathering was informative, supportive and well-attended.

The participants were a joyful mix of jugglers, performers, teachers, street ar­tists, movie stars, clowns, mimes, dancers, historians and hobbyists from across the country.

Some had juggled for years and attended many conventions, while others had been juggling for just a few days. Together we represented a comfortably balanced cross-section of the IJA community.

Guest speaker was Lottie Brunn, Queen of Jugglers. For 45 minutes Lottie reviewed her years as "the greatest girl juggler in the world." She has played everywhere, including the major Las Vegas hot spots, the big circuses and with Spike Jones' and Tommy Dorsey's orchestras. Her descriptions of her combination tricks left us awed and inspired.

She took special delight recalling Radio City Music Hall and the overwhelming experience of performing on that vast stage. "I was numb! Absolutely numb!" she chuckled.

When asked if she had ever felt intimidated being a woman juggler, she replied, "Never. Juggling was my whole life. I never knew what it was like to be a teenager. I never knew what it was like to do anything except practice juggling. "

Offering advice to the crowd, she observed, "Everybody does the same tricks - five clubs, seven balls, seven rings - with the same props purchased from the same makers. You have to have something on the ball. It is not the tricks you do but how you do them!"

After Lottie spoke, we took a quick break to snap a group photo, then resumed the mellow meeting. Each person introduced herself and offered topics for discussion.

The hot topic was the question of whether or not there should be a separate womens division in the competitions to encourage more women to compete. The unanimous opinion was there should be no such division; that juggling was not determined by physical strength; that all jugglers should be judged equally.

"We have to work our way up through the ranks," one woman said. "We've had to work our way up in business, art and politics. Juggling is no exception. It's going to take a while to get a woman president and a woman U.S. Nationals champion, but hey, we're just as good as the guys! "

"Better!" several people called out heartily.

At that moment, a hesitant bespeckled fellow tip-toed cautiously into the meeting. "Do you have a pass?" joked our chairman, Karen Rothstein among the cheerful cries of "No boys allowed!"  "No, my girlfriend has my ticket for the video show. .. " He was allowed to retrieve his ticket and then beat a hasty retreat.

As other topics and concerns' surfaced, we realized that in the world of juggling there are no real women's issues per se, that the questions we faced were common to all jugglers. Our troubles and roadblocks stemmed from lack of experience, lack of communication and lack of confidence rather than sexism. Feelings of intimidation can be cured by practice, patience and humor, three qualities plentiful in our group.

We rejoiced at our sisterhood and discovery of common ground, while gaining a renewed understanding that juggling is a joy all people can share and celebrate. We parted with a determination to make the women's forum a regular convention feature.