ALL OUR YESTERDAYS

Juggling Comes Of Age

by Karl-Heinz Ziethen

The turn of the 20th century represented a significant change in the art of juggling, with many artistes changing their costumes and juggling props. Jugglers of old wore multicoloured shimmering

tights to give their balls and plates a brilliant, gleaming and colorful background. But the artistes themselves often looked dubious against such elegance and glitter. Many were poorly educated and trained, and did not know how to move about the stage. Consequently, their craft did not receive much recognition from high society.

But in the late 1800's jugglers exchanged traditional costumes for a dinner suit or sports uniform, and used props like walking sticks, top hats, candles and balls.

The increasing popularity of sports led many to wear uniforms and turn their stages into a sports field. Among them was the American Bilton, who was in 1874 the first to travel with his own stage decoration. It took the form of a tennis court on which Bilton manipulated tennis balls, rackets and a net.

Morie appeared as "The Original Tourist Juggler" with a bicycle (two wheels and a frame) which he performed on and with. Hanvarr, "Juggling on the Lawn," worked with tennis rackets, hat and ball, while Felix and Co. adopted a scene "On the Golf Course." The Russian artistes Xenia and Michael Patschenko, as well as the Germans Joe Martin and Miss Lona, and the three Trapnell Sisters were among those who adopted this style about 1900.

Alberto Alfonso, who made a name for himself as a comical juggler in Germany about 1885, followed the trend. He balanced a wash bowl containing dancing Bengali fireworks on a bamboo cane. At the same time he juggled bottles and a chair, his jacket and billiard cues.

Two groups adopted a kitchen scene -- The Spoons performing a juggling pantomime and E.F. Strakay working with a stove, plates and "dancing bowls."

But the salon juggler emerged as the most popular style. The Englishman Rupert Ingalese was

not only a master of balance, but also juggled seven balls. In one routine he balanced a plate on his nose held in his left hand a cane on which he balanced a rotating bowl, and juggled two plates in his right hand. He added the plate from his nose into the act, making three objects in his right hand, and finished with all five items.

The German juggler Claever also added a personal note to his salon act. He did three balls in his right hand while rotating a wash bowl on a long stick in the left hand. At the same time he balanced on his forehead a wine bottle supporting a plate, which in turn supported four sticks carrying a laden table. Claever later juggled with the items found on the table.

The Russian Konstantin Nautzesko threw with his left hand two chairs and with his right rotated a table on top of a cane. The American Rosani, also known as "The Prince of Jugglers," juggled with three flags in 1900.

The juggling act with three cigar boxes was first shown by an unnamed mimic clown in the German Circus Renz in around 1868, but he used three bricks! James Jim Harrigan and W. C. Fields were among the first to show three cigar boxes on a European stage when they came to the continent around 1900. The three Rossis juggled with three huge balls, which they managed to maneuver using only their heads!

These creative changes, performed by skillful artistes, helped transform juggling from a circus and .street art into a full-fledged performance art on the Vaudeville stage and the entertainment venues that were to follow it.

Reprinted From "4,000 Years of Juggling"