Counselor Uses Juggling To Promote Recovery by William J. Nimke

 

Paul Salerno intends to put juggler's scarfs and bean bags into the hands of recovering alcoholics and addicts as soon as they emerge from treatment.

 

With more than a dozen years of counseling experience in chemical dependency, Salerno has discovered many of the steps in learning to juggle are similar to those in the recovery process. He has developed a workshop for recovering alcoholics and addicts to help them reduce stress in their lives and boost supportive chemical-free relationships. He calls it "Juggling Toward Self Esteem."

 

He is featured speaker in January at a Milwaukee , Wisc., meeting of Single Alcoholics / Addicts Seeking Social Independence, a club organized to promote the well-being of recovering singles through recreation and education programs.

 

"I make the point in my presentation that it is important for people making a recovery to maintain a sense of humor and accept their limitations. There are certain challenges they'll meet and others they won't," said Salerno , a health counselor at the University School of Milwaukee.

 

He noted several obvious parallels between juggling and the recovery process. First, juggling requires the individual to focus on the task at hand. "For the recovering individual, it's often a matter of refocusing away from the user's attitude of addiction, " he said.

 

The meditative qualities of juggling can help people learn to relax without the aid of chemicals, according to Salerno . Recovering individuals initially tend to be so intense they have forgotten how to be playful.

 

Most importantly for recovering individuals, juggling almost always attracts a crowd. Rediscovering and rebuilding chemical-free social relationships is often a key factor to ward off a relapse of dependent behavior.

 

"In the recovery world, there is much talk about the value of balance in one's life between the physical, emotional, social and spiritual self," said Salerno . "Juggling provides a visual experience of an attempt to maintain that balance."

 

Kitting Around by Kit Summers

 

Ringling was making its yearly appearance in San Diego last summer, so I went by to see if there were any jugglers with the show. Backstage I was happy to find Jeff Taveggia, who placed fifth in the Akron U.S. Nationals Championship.

 

The show also included Jim Vogelsang catching hats on his head that were thrown from the audience, Rich Potter doing four clubs in a triple-single pattern and Dave Nelson with a nine box balance.

 

Taveggia did a routine on unsupported ladder. He built up to it with a short hat routine in which the hat comically ended up on one end of the ladder instead of his head. He also held balance on a rola bola while he stepped completely through a hoop. He and a colleague threw about 30 Frisbees back and forth at high speed, then Taveggia did a spinning routine with a foam rubber seal.

 

He is doing some great work in practice,  including juggling seven clubs and tricks with five. He's working on a finale trick that includes spinning a ball on a mouth­stick, a ring on the leg and juggling five clubs.

 

A month later the Canadian Cirque du Soleil came through town. I've seen many circuses in Europe and assumed this would not compare, but it was a great show!

The juggler was Daniel Ie Bateleur. This versatile and creative performer did a very smooth three ball routine, using up the entire stage. He did club swinging, but used balls on strings instead of clubs. There were some very advanced moves in his act.

His next performance was unlike any I'd ever seen - he tied ropes by throwing knots in them in a routine choreographed to music.

 

BOOK REVIEWS

 

Three Club Juggling: An Introduction. By Dick Franco.

 

This book gives fine instruction in text and pictures for people wanting to learn to juggle clubs. Franco, a stage performer for . more than 10 years, spends 34 pages of the 128 page volume teaching the three club cascade.

 

It includes some innovative tips, such as, "If you're having trouble with this, I would suggest that you have a friend help you by putting the clubs through their patterns by hand. You will throw and catch in slow motion while your friend moves the clubs slowly through the air for you. With everything slowed down you can better understand sequence of throws and catches."

 

The last half covers ten basic three club tricks. Beside the standard behind the back and under the leg, he covers interesting and more difficult flats, backhand dips and reverse spins.

 

The book is well illustrated with 48 photos of outstanding club jugglers, as well as step-by-step photos with William Lee of the instructions as they are explained in the text.