Internationally
Speaking
At
the founding of the IJA in1947, several names were bandied
about. The final
designation as an "international" juggler's association was
premised on the hope that the organization would attract a
geographically broad following to its goals. Some European jugglers
had already expressed an interest in joining the proposed
organization.
England
was the first to be represented as Joe Marsh joined in 1947. He shared
his secrets with cartoon tips so well drawn and so informative they
are still reprinted in "Juggler's World" 40 years later. The
same year, Topper Martyn of Belsey-onSea,
Sussex, joined. By 1955 there
were members writing in from Saskatoon, Toronto,
Manchester,
London, Berlin,
Mexico
City and Belmont
in Australia.
The
addition of Berlin
members Selma Braatz and Max Koch were high points in the IJA's
overseas membership. Selma Braatz was a world famous artist who had
traveled widely, crossing the
Atlantic
a dozen times before the war. She toured extensively in
America
and, after the death of her husband in Berlin
during the war, settled in the States.
Non-American
members added much to the IJA through their correspondence in the
"Bulletin" and "Newsletter." They were the eyes on
a juggling scene American jugglers knew only through them. In return,
the IJA provided the only organized juggling publication in the world,
often waiving membership fees for those where the export of money was
restricted by postwar prohibitions.
Max
Koch was the foremost correspondent of the 1950s. His collection of
juggling memorabilia, which Karl-Heinz Ziethen later acquired, was the
most formidable in the world at that time. He personally met many of
the legends in juggling, including Rastelli and Cinquavelli. For 50
years he traded photographs and promotional items with
jugglers from
around the world and amassed some 25 albums of material.
Although he was a banker and not a professional juggler, he was
accomplished with difficult tricks.
Before
his death in 1961, Koch contributed nearly 40 European reports to the
"Bulletin" and "Newsletter," including an early
and extensive history of juggling. The writings of other contributors
often mentioned him as a prime reason for reading the publications.
The address, "108 Eisenstrasse,
Berlin," became synonymous with juggling scholarship. The house
was a mecca for American jugglers overseas on tour or serving in the
Army.
Jugglers
from outside of the
United States
have continued to comprise four to seven percent of the IJA's membership.
That rate is stronger than might be expected considering the high
foreign exchange rate on American money and the difference in
languages. English-speaking countries account for the largest
percentage, but such countries as
Germany,
Singapore,
Sierra Leone,
Indonesia,
China
and Israel
continue to demonstrate the IJA's attraction to devotees of the
art throughout the world. *
Dateline
- Overseas:
Here
are some excerpts from the
"Bulletin" and ''Newsletter'' from foreign correspondents
through the years.
A
Dutchman crazy for juggling:
Hello,
American Jugs, here is a new guy in your ranks. I am a Dutch jug
fan, and absolutely possessed, mad and crazy about juggling. I hope
to add something from
Europe
to interest you. Here is the first: General difference between
European and American juggling styles is that Europe puts the strong
accents on technique and skill;
U.S.A.
on showmanship and fun.
Here
in
Europe
almost all great jugglers
of today follow the so-called
school
of
Rastelli. That is, they work with the classic objects - balls,
rings, clubs, mouthstick and balance cigar boxes, hats, canes and
small balls. They wear the equally classic silk suit and hate
smoking and tails. They are silent workers and would prefer to
change their profession to speaking during their act. They all
perform the same classics: catching a ball on a mouthstick, juggling
six and more rings, juggling four clubs, spinning balls on
fingertips. They made juggling famous and beloved here.
(Dick
Harris, Bulletin, October 1948)
