Three of the four juggling acts in the 10th Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain (Circus of Tomorrow), held in Paris in early February, won silver medals.

 

Krisztian Kristof of Budapest, Hungary, a 17-year old with a family background in circus, worked in the Kris Kremo style. He began his act with a bowler hat routine to Michael Jackson music, and followed with three balls and three red silk top hats. His cigar box manipulations included a triple and quadruple pirouette catch of one box. Kristof made his circus debut last winter in Budapest.

 

The second silver medal winner was 20-year-old Rafael de Carlo (Rodriguez) from Havana, Cuba. De Carlo began with a ball routine, building to seven balls a la Popovitch. Using baseballs, he finished his opening by catching the balls in the pockets of a belt around his waist. Dressed as a soccer player, the dynamic de Carlo next performed with up to five soccer balls, mixing juggling moves with highly athletic somersaults.

 

De Carlo's training at the Cuban circus school has benefited during the last five years from an exchange program of teachers and students with the Moscow circus school.

 

The Russians introduced a completely different act in the form of the third silver medal winner, Guennadi Kil. His act was a mime musical parody juggling small balls. Accompanied by Russian folk music and Western music, this 22-year-old performer was a poet at his craft, demonstrating many original tricks with three balls. He finished with a nice six ball routine.

 

This year's festival included for the first time a junior circus performer's competition, "The Circus of the Future," featuring performers under 17-years-old. Two Chinese jugglers from the Peking circus school manipulating jars were the gold medal winners of this event.

 

A special junior prize was awarded to 12-year-old West German juggler Sabrina Fackelli. She juggled with five balls, six hoops and four tennis rackets. Her parents, the Two Fackellis, have a club passing act and were in the 1970s members of the East German troupe, the Five Majongs.