PEOPLE

 Neglected Arts 

Hoop Rolling Troupes and Others

One of the most enjoyable aspects of digging through the archives of juggling history is

becoming aware of props and routines that have fallen out of fashion.

Although some of these arcane bits of juggling may still be practiced here and there, they are in large part exotic artifacts of juggling archeology.

Boomerang hats and plates, spools, gun spinning and Swiss flag swinging are a few examples that might bring glimmers of recognition.

But what about juggling soap bubbles using woolen mittens, rug spinning or fire bowl and chain spinning? Who still practices "the human pool table" routine with balls tossed into pockets attached to the performer's suit and rolled and popped to other pockets?

Although still around today, the diabolo has seen its heyday. At the turn of the century, McSovereign of Germany, billed as "Meister in Diabolospiel," performed a diabolo act second to none. His spinner climbed a 30-foot string to a windmill. He bounced it between upright, angled mini­trampolines, had the diabolo climb a string over the audience to the balcony, and employed a complicated, loop-the-Ioop device that brought it back to the string after its gyrations.

One of the greatest losses in juggling has been the disappearance of ensemble theme troupes. More than a group of jugglers, this old vaudeville standby was a playlet of actors juggling around a central theme.

Some of the most interesting of these ensembles performed hoop rolling. Every other woodcut from the 1870s and 1880s seems to show a boy rolIing a barrel hoop along the sidewalk with a stick. This was the forerunner of a precision effect where special hoops were rolled and spun and wobbled along the stage with a dozen different angles and methods of English, giving them a life of their own. The hoops were often prime players in the troupe's playlet, taking on personalities of their own.

Of all the great hoop acts, one stands out. The Kratons, popular in 1908, set their stage as a small town with stores, churches, factory, saloon, school and other buildings. The hoops showed individual personalities of people in the town.

Singly, in pairs or in groups, the hoop people would roll out of a store and into a house, or leave home for church or the factory. One hoop came out of the saloon, staggered around, and landed happily against a lamppost, friend of all drunkards. When the school bell rang, a passel of kids rushed out the door in every direction. When the factory whistle blew, the worker hoops headed for home, some making detours to the saloon.

Hoop couples danced. A girlish hoop dropped a hanky and a courting hoop, with the aid of a pin embedded in the rim, raced along to pick it up and follow her behind some stage scenery. At the finale, the lights dimmed, the church bell rang, and families streamed into the church where a hymn was sung and the curtains lowered.