ENTERTAINERS

 

Ignatov in Japan... Not Just a Tourist

by Jeff Taveggia

 

(Jeff Taveggia reports that he finally got the Ringling Brother and Barnum and Bailey Circus to put a juggler on the floor without clown makeup. It was Taveggia himself, who performed a full-fledged juggling act with the RBBB tour of Japan last June through November. He performed three, four and five clubs, ball spinning and seven rings. The occasion was even more historic than that, though. Taveggia picks up the story...)

 

"In Osaka, the last city of the RBBB tour, I had a chance to see the Bolshoi Circus from the USSR. I heard they had a juggler, and asked around their arena when I arrived for someone who spoke English. I didn't even tell them I was a juggler, but who do you think they called over? None other than Sergei Ignatov!

 

"This was especially exciting for me because a tape of Ignatov's 1977 performance in America that I saw at age 14 inspired me to sell most of my magic equipment and send away for a set of clubs to launch my juggling career.

"Ignatov invited me to watch his performance. He attempted 11 rings that night. At the time he had successfully performed 11 on four separate occasions during his Japan tour. He says he is recently making major progress in his constant battle to regain his form since an operation. In another year or so he says he will be back to the form he demonstrated on the famous 1977 video!

 

"He invited me to return the next day with my props. My wife, Heather, and I returned and stayed backstage during his hour-long warm-up. He nailed 11 and seemed to be able to keep five club back crosses going as long as he wanted. After seeing him perform again, he worked with me on my technique and form for about three hours.

 

"Afterwards he and his wife, Marina, invited Heather and I to their hotel for a dinner of canned Russian delicacies.  There were plenty of parties that night in the hotel as members of the Bolshoi and Ringling circuses got to know each other.

 

"We invited 20 Soviets to our show the next day. There were no passes available, but we were able to smuggle them in. We finished the day with a good ol' barbecue (burgers, beer and vodka!). We all had the next day off, so Ignatov and I, with our wives, toured Kyoto. Ignatov was always lagging behind us, making sure he got everything on videotape.

 

"We both blessed our hands with holy water at a shrine, and checked out all the toy stores in search of the large red balls he found on a previous visit to Japan. However, they don't seem to make them anymore. We also searched in vain for a Nintendo computer circus game for their daughter, who is enrolled in a Soviet gymnastics school. At the end of the day, we exchanged addresses and offers of a place to stay if we ever made it to Moscow, or if they made it to Miami.

 

"He asked me to tell IJA jugglers that he is regaining 11 rings, and might be visiting the US again with the circus in the next couple of years. At the top of his list of things to do if he comes to America is to attend an IJA convention, though not to compete, I hope!"