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Foreign
guests will join American stars in San Jose at 39th IJA
Convention
A
galaxy of international juggling stars will attend the IJA's
39th Annual Convention July 22-27 in San Jose, California. Dai
Shu Cheng of the Heilong Jaing Acrobatic Troupe in China and
several European artists will be there, including ball spinner
Francois Chotard from France and "Duo High
Fidelity," Michael Genahr and Karin Johnson, from West
Germany.
American-based
jugglers who plan to be there and perform in one of two
featured shows include Airjazz, Tommy Curtin and Anthony
Gatto. Robert Nelson, the Butterfly Man, will emcee the
"Juggling, and Other Delights" public show in San
Jose's 2,700-seat Center for the Performing Arts. The
"Sensations of '86" private show will be emceed by
Scott Melzer and John Park, the American Dream team.
Competitors
aiming at the $1,000 top prize in the U.S. Nationals include
Gatto, last year's winner Andrew Head and regional winners
Larry Merlo and Benji Hill.
In
addition to those shows, the convention includes a wide
variety of workshops covering aspects of juggling from how to
sell your act to manipulation of specific props. Allan Jacobs,
renowned as one of the world's top club swingers, will present
a pre-convention three-day workshop in that specialty. To
register call Holly Greeley.
Convention
co-chairmen Barry and Sue Bakalor assure convention goers
there won't be a dull moment. "We've tried to take the
basic structure of past conventions and add some special
events we think people will really enjoy, " said Barry.
Besides the private show, those touches include a street
performer's competition, costume ball, parade in downtown San
Jose and a Saturday evening banquet. The more than 120 members
of the San Jose Juggling Society are expected to pitch in to
make sure things run smoothly.
IJA
championships will be held throughout the week. The Numbers
Challenge will feature new rules designed to give competitors
a better chance to reach their potential. The monetary prize
for the IJA Nationals has been raised to $1,000 for first
place, and for the first time there will also be prize money
for the Teams Championship. Juniors and Joggling champions
will receive medals, but no cash prizes.
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