38-2,p12

Before discussing those in more detail, here's a description of their act:

The one-ring show begins with an old circus theme in front of 1,600 people seated under a sturdy big top. Ringmaster and circus director Paul Binder (whose career began as a street juggler) talks about the first American circus of John Bill Ricketts in 1793. As he talks, players roust themselves from sleep in an old circus wagon and scurry around to prepare for the day's show.

A beautiful white horse jumps through hoops in a couple of trots around the sawdust ring. Clowns and stilt walkers form a parade and the live band strikes up a happy tune. The commotion forms into a three-high climactic pyramid to announce that the circus has come to town. Two people on the pyramid and clown Michael Christensen (Binder's former street juggling partner) cascade three rings briefly before the introduction ends with everyone running back behind the curtain.

Felker and Strinka have walked behind the ensemble sometime during the action and begin an eight-ring color changing passing pattern right away. Rather than using one color and white, their Dube rings are in white and several colors that match their multi-colored striped shirts and blue satin pants.

They throw the rings directly across from hand to hand in offset rhythm with no self-throws, so the action is much more profound than if they traveled around in a shower pattern from juggler to juggler.

Felker makes five changes of color, grabbing the trailing edge of each ring with each hand and turning it before throwing it back. With hardly a pause, those eight are set aside and five white rings are picked up for several run-around drop-backs to each other. Felker then grabs five more and they run circles around each other cascading five each. They finish by synchronously pulling one down over their necks and removing it several times, then end with a five ring pulldown capped by a double pancake flip catch.

After a quick bow and pause for applause, they turn to each other and pass all ten rings in the same straight across pattern, no self-throw pattern as eight. "We tried several patterns and this seemed easier," Strinka said. "Plus, it's better looking because there's no self-throw." Felker ends the ring routine pulling all ten down over his head.

Stage hands bring out two tom-tom drums and mallets for the next portion of the act. Facing each other, they beat out a quick rhythm with two clubs each, then pick up the third and continue the rhythm from a cascade. One man throws a mallet to the other, who juggles four while the tosser beats his drum. The fourth is thrown back and they reverse roles, answering each other's drum beat in the process. Each then gets three and they jump back and forth between drum sets keeping up a steady rhythm. The drums sound loudly and deeply throughout the tent, giving voice to the juggling rhythm.

Next come solo routines. Felker does two ping-pong balls with no hands, then five with a hand feed. Strinka follows with five red street hockey balls in various patterns, ending with a shower that Felker collects in a pouch.

The last props are Jugglebug clubs. They begin by trading three with leapfrog steals, then pass them back and forth in a shower

punctuated by pirouettes. One by one, Felker adds three more on the floor to the pattern as the duo moves quickly back and forth across the circus ring.

They shower six with synchronous chop passes, pirouettes and shoulder throws, then go back to back with six in a shower. Again they face each other and move quickly in and out toward and away from each other, tossing a high pass when they are close and passing hard and straight when they back away from the center. They end by tossing one each high to the middle and catching it on one knee.

Two more clubs are added and they do synchronous moves with four clubs each. Juggling alternate columns with double spins, they run toward each other, drop to one knee in the middle and switch to single spins. They rise into doubles again and do a synchronous four club spread pattern. For a finale, they turn toward each other and pass the eight in a shower pattern. Strinka collects them all and they take a well-deserved bow.

We're trying to put across an upbeat image so that people will feel,

"There's someone I'd like to meet,' when they see the show," Felker said.

Strinka added, "We wanted something different to set us apart from other acts. That's why we worked hard on movement and choreography. We want to present smoothness and good transitions between tricks. Someone in Switzerland said to me it looked like we were playing out there, like our act was spontaneous. I think that's just the effect we were, looking for."

Their smiles throughout are only possible because of the complete confidence in their juggling. The cute asides, shrugs and nods to the audience, are well-planned. Under the professional lighting in the Big Apple ring, Dynamotion radiates joy and health.

For Felker, the job with Big Apple fulfills a dream. "Ever since I saw the Knie Circus in Switzerland in 1983 I wanted to work for a circus. The audience is there for all the right reasons - to see a show. In nightclubs they may be there to dance or drink. In the Globetrotters show they came to see basketball, but this is ideal."

Strinka, too, enjoys the Big Apple atmosphere. "There's a lot of energy here with the live music and other performers around. "

However, he admits missing the spontaneity and freedom of the street. "You get a different feeling getting a laugh on the street than getting a hand here," he explained. "I think I prefer the laugh, maybe because I'm more of a clown than a juggler. This show is helping my skills as a juggler. "

That statement may sound odd coming from a man whose technical background is so strong. Strinka worked on seven rings until he could do 200 throws, and seven balls to the point of behind the back tosses and a finale heel catch.

The improvement he speaks of comes from performing difficult tricks in the strictly choreographed atmosphere of a circus act as opposed to the loose situation of the street. "On the street it doesn't matter if you drop," he said. "Here, there's more pressure for everything to be perfect. It's important to experience that pressure to develop our act for other stages, but it also means you're not free to try out new stuff like on the street."