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The IJA special guests, Ignatov and Trixie, received awards following the Saturday night show and conducted a formal question-andanswer session with festival registrants earlier in the week. Ignatov, speaking through interpreter Chris Majka, talked about the technical details of his practices and career. His advice to aspiring jugglers was "to find good teachers." Admitting that his best years may be behind him, and saying he wished he had come to an IJA event 20 years ago, Ignatov said he still plans to push himself as hard as he can as long as he can, and has no thoughts of retirement. He paid homage several times to the skill of Anthony Gatto, and said he hopes to bring his daughter, Katya, to a future IJA festival. He also said that he is now free to sign contracts with agencies outside the Moscow Circus, and has signed a contract to work in Germany soon.

Trixie, with her husband, Escoe, by her side, fielded questions about her life and art. She talked about performing with Fred Astaire, her most memorable performance being in Radio City Music Hall, and about doing a dozen flip-flops on the ice wearing spiked gloves as a finale in her countless Ice Capades performances. She retired from juggling years ago to get married and then raised five children. She said she hasn't skated or juggled in many years, and broke her wrist the last time she was on ice skates. "Sometimes I feel now like I should take three balls out and juggle them for a minute, but then I think 'what for?'" she said with a smile.

As a nice punctuation mark at the end of this years festival, Renegade Juggling arranged for a Sunday evening Belle of St. Louis riverboat ride for people staying over that night. Ed Carstens of the Miner Attractions juggling club recalled, "The dining room was elegant and we enjoyed a tasty meal. Then the band played everything from the golden oldies to M.C. Hammer. Within 20 minutes the floor was filled with people dancing. Renegades were in the majority for the fast dances, sometimes attempting to juggle-dance. 'Again, Renegades rule!' a band member cried out into the mike.

"As it got dark some of us went outside to the upper deck to relax and chat. With my three Squeezits I showed off what little contact juggling I could do. Sergei Ignatov said, 'Ah, Michael Moschen!' and began practicing the moves. So did his wife, Marina, and Karl-Heinz Ziethen. I asked Ignatov if he thought Anthony Gatto would some day be as good or better than him and he said yes, and that Anthony has 'a very strong head.'

"The musicians took a break and no one was on the dance floor, so we couldn't resist the temptation to juggle. One of us tried to juggle five big yellow stage balls, then I went ahead and did a nice long five-ball run with an 8552 site swap. (Mathematical computations of patterns was a common topic of conversation in St. Louis.) The crowd loved it."

There is another particular image which will remain with many people for years. They'll recall Jeff Daymont standing on the Club Renegade stage on the final night of the festival. Jeff brought out "Sergei," his Cabbage Patch doll and performing partner for the past two years. Daymont ,"asked" Sergei to do a trick, and tossed the doll up into a headstand on a knife Daymont held with his teeth like a mouthstick. At that moment the crowd went wild, and Daymont turned to see the real Sergei approaching from offstage.

Ignatov explained that he performs in Moscow with a "Jeff' doll, produced a Cabbage Patch kid with long braided hair just like Daymont's and tossed it in a shoulder throw or two. The crowd loved that, too! Daymont recalled, "I started thinking about it later and realized I just did a comedy routine with Sergei Ignatov! It sounds like fantasy, but it really did happen!"

It was a wonderful capper for the week, proving again that the improbable is often possible in the juggling world for one special week each July.