Page 29 Fall 1988
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FESTIVALS World
Expo 1988 Brisbane, Australia The
festival hosted a bright spectrum of juggling street performers and
stage acts for its April 30 opening. Rene, the world traveling
gypsy, juggled torches and balls while balancing fire gyroscopes on
a mouthstick. Originally from Switzerland, Rene now lives in New
Zealand, but works the streets of more than 15 countries.
Direct
from a solo theatre run in Paris, Toronto mime-comic-juggler Derek
Scott packed in massive crowds. Armed with three clubs, three cigar
boxes, a red nose, a plastic horse and a lot of energy, Scott had
his audiences in stitches for 45 minutes. He also led periodic
workshops in street performing in an effort to develop the art in
Australia.
Heart
and Biko (Jonathan Seglins and Jean-Michel Pare from Toronto) opened
the first two weeks at the Canadian pavilion. They did diabolo,
juggling, comedy audience participation, daredevil unicycling and
bowling balls. When Heart and Biko moved to another venue at Expo,
Dick and Dick from Vancouver whipped up audiences into a comedic
frenzy at the Canadian pavilion. How about this machete juggling
line?! "It's so quiet you could hear a finger drop!"
Lee
Ross, madcap mime, comedian, fire juggler and balloon artist, titled
his spectacle "Silently Loud." Fred Anderson from San
Francisco thrilled audiences with fire, hat and club juggling,
balloons, slack rope and comedy.
Footbag
artists Peter Shunny and Jeff Haas warmed up with club juggling in
their show at the USA pavillion, drawing interesting comparisons
between the two sports in the areas of concentration, rhythm and
coordination.
..
The
street performing spilled out into the Brisbane Queen Street Man,
where Mr. and Mrs. Jones on Vacation, a juggling act from Sydney,
and Brian the Juggler from Indiana did large shows for lunchtime and
evening audiences.
The
major acts of Expo included The Flying Karamazov Brothers, who did
their "Juggling and Cheap Theatricks." -
Jonathan Seglins
San Francisco Street Performers Festival San
Francisco, California The
San Francisco Street Performers Festival started off with a flare on
June 2 with a fire show. Organized by Ray Jason and Robert Nelson,
fire was manipulated in as many ways as possible.
Some
of the featured performers in the half-hour show included: Tom Murphy,
balancing atop a flaming ladder while juggling three torches; Katrine
from Denmark riding a flaming unicycle; Mary Spenger juggling three
torches while balancing on a rolling globe; and Scott Meltzer and
Frank Olivier passing eight torches. A littIe more excitement occured
when Dave Rave's pant leg caught on fire during Twist and Shout's
torch swinging routine.
The
most exciting moment was the finale. The breath-taking beauty of 17
performers juggling, swinging and eating fire was further enhanced by
Cliff Spenger's heart-stopping juggling of three torches with a
spinning fire baton on a mouth stick on a tight wire 15 feet above the
stage.
The
festival continued on Saturday and Sunday with combined variety shows
at the Entrance Plaza and single acts on Center Stage. The out of town
acts were wellreceived, and included Tom Murphy, Tom Kubinek,
Musagee, Airjazz, Pat Hazell and O.J. Anderson.
The
festival was sponsored by Orangina and was a benefit for retinitis
pigmentosa, a disease that causes blindness. -
Mary Spenger |