News:

Footbaggers get kick out of juggling for fans

The 50 or so professional players of The World Footbag Association open their demonstration performances with juggling! "It's something everyone has seen," said Bruce Guettich, WFA co-director.

The performers then relate footbag to juggling from the points of view of using both sides of the body, timing, coordination, concentration and lifting the object in question straight up rather than tossing it forward.

Guettich and co-director Greg Cortopassi teach juggling to the pro players at WFA training camps. During the school year, four two-man pro teams are on the road constantly doing school shows, and during the summer about 15 teams are busy with demonstrations. Juggling equipment is provided to teams through the sponsorship of Jugglebug. Dave Finnigan of that company and Barrett Felker presented a juggling demonstration at the WFA national championships last summer that "stunned the crowd," according to Guettich.

The 4,000 member WFA was two years old in May and is headquartered in Golden, Colorado.

IJA creates Grand Slam Award for super-winners

A new challenge awaits competitors at the 1985 IJA championships in Atlanta. It is the Grand Slam Award of juggling. As is the tradition with grand slam awards, it will be presented to anyone winning four events - the U.S. Nationals, a numbers challenge, a joggling event and any other event. The "any other" category includes, at this time, the team competition, an additional numbers challenge event, an additional joggling event or setting an IJA record with five clubs or seven objects.

Championships director Holly Greeley said it is hoped that this challenge will encourage people to participate in a variety of events and display a variety of skills. Winners will receive a special award and have their name entered on a permanent trophy.

European jugglers form a continental association

The organizers of the 8th European Convention have founded the European Jugglers Association. Eddy Krzeptowski, founding president, outlined three objectives for the AEJ:

1. To develop and rationalize the organization of European juggling. This will be an effort to develop a list of addresses of all European jugglers, whether or not they are members of AEJ. The magazine "Kaskade" is intended to be the voice of jugglers and the AEJ. "This means of communication will make it possible to organize other interesting com­munal activities, such as introductory and advanced courses on technique and related arts," Krzeptowski said.

2. To develop relations between European jugglers and those on other continents, "to maintain contact with our American friends in the IJA and study the possibilities for exchanges between jugglers the world over."

3. To assist organizing committees of the annual European convention to pass on experience acquired by predecessors. This will include providing organizers with a cash fund for convention planning and set­up.

People are invited to join the AEJ by sending $15 (U.S.) or 650 Belgian francs to the account of the AEJ.  Or  write the AEJ at Courcelles, Belgium.

Membership includes a year's subscription to "Kaskade," a reduction of 100 Belgian francs to the 8th convention, name and address list of all known jugglers in Europe and priority and price reduction for all activities organized by the association.

Avner & K-Brothers land starring roles in major film

Avner the Eccentric and the Karamazov Brothers juggling vaudeville troupe flew to Morocco in mid-April to begin film­ing "Jewel of the Nile," a 20th Century Fox sequel to 'Romancing the Stone."

The movie, starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner and produced by Douglas, is due to be released at Christmas. Filming was expected to take eight weeks, and the finished product will feature many juggling and manipulation scenes. "Juggler's World" will carry a complete preview of the film in the Fall issue, but rest assured in the meantime that the jugglers in this film are portrayed as good guys!