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The European Convention was much different from the IJA Festivals, which are much more structured and organized - and cost more, too. But each has its good points.

The next European Juggling Convention is in Leeds, England, September 1-5,1993. If you can make it, you will have a superb time. With 2,500 jugglers expected to show up, and the local people speaking English, you shouldn't miss it! Contact Charlie Holland; The Circus Space; London; ENGLAND for more information.

From Spain I went to stay with Sem Abrahams, who makes the superb Squeeze-Its juggling ball and the best unicycles around. Many of you know his son, the excellent unicyclist and juggler Sem Jr.

Then it was on to Dorsten, Germany, to present another workshop. I stayed with Philipp Dammer, a 19-year-old who has been juggling for five years. He and his partner, Joram Seewi, were the standouts among the 12 jugglers who took part. I went to a couple of Dammer's practice sessions and saw him do at least 1 ;000 throws with five balls; throw three up out of a five ball juggle and pirouette, then throw all five and pirouette. I saw him do this at least 10 times in a row with no drops! Dammer is doing all the three clubs tricks very well. He says he practices seven or eight hours a day, and never misses a day. Look for him as an up-andcoming great!

I also went to see a performance in Dorsten by Michie! Hesseling from Amsterdam and his partner,Jean-Michel Pare. I must say they were the best juggling/unicycling act I have ever seen. Hesseling is a juggling machine, doing every trick imaginable with three and four clubs. A kickup to five clubs, then triples, quads, back throws on one side... I saw him do triples thrown behind the back with each hand for more than 100 throws - never even close to dropping!

In their show, I saw Pare transfer from a normal unicycle to a six-foot uni, on which he jumped rope. From there he transferred, while riding, to a nine-footer, then to a 12foot unicycle. All this was performed on a very small stage. Then Hesseling mounted a six-foot uni and they passed six clubs between them.

Hesseling said he has been juggling for nine years, and 23-year-old Pare told me that one person who inspired him was Sergei Ignatov. Combined, their comedy and work with the audience was as good as their juggling and unicycling. The audience gave them a well-deserved standing ovation after the performance. They have not yet been to America to perform, but if they ever do come here, don't miss them!

I went south to a splendid area of Germany and the small college town of Tiibingen. I visited Hermann Sagemuller there, who has a huge collection of juggling books, photos and props. Sagemuller's knowledge of juggling is extensive. We sat and talked for hours about the history of juggling and great performers like Francis Brunn, Alexander Kiss, Enrico Rastelli, Rudy Horn, Felix Adanos, Richard Eckert and others. I couldn't believe how much he knew about their history. He says he is going to write a book and get his knowledge down on paper. This is something that is definitely necessary to get a true recording of jugglers from the past.

From Germany, I took a boat to England to do a workshop at Fooltime in Bristol. Twelve jugglers participated there, and then I did one in London with 23 jugglers. At Fooltime I worked with Toby Walker, a 14-year-old who is very good. He does a kick-up to five clubs, throws triples, and is working on backcrosses with five.

My last weekend in England was spent at a juggling mini-convention near Bristol, where I did another workshop. Participants included Guy Heathcote, an excellent diabolo manipulator. Heathcote does a great routine using two diabolos at one time, and he is also the only person I ever saw keep three going.

The diabolo and devil stick seem to be more popular in Europe than here in the US. Also at the convention was Haggis McLeod, another superb juggler. Haggis was juggling five balls over his head with no problem, and then he did a five ball Mills Mess. I couldn't even begin to explain how it looks or how it's done! I also saw Haggis juggle nine balls and catch them all.

What a fantastic juggling summer/autumn I had! And I'm looking forward to another in 1993.