Page 5 Winter 1993-94
IJA
Not A Numbers Clique
I
must disagree with Dale Jones' letter
in the fall issue stating that the IJA has "become an
organization for seven club jugglers." I have been a member of
the IJA for three years and have attended several regional
festivals, my first annual festival at Fargo, and visited a number of
local juggling clubs. I am strictly a three object juggler. Despite
the fact that I don't do the advanced work that Jones indicates is
required by the IJA, I have never I , felt unwelcomed at any
juggling activity.
I
do, however, agree with Jones that we need to place more emphasis on
juggling as entertainment! I wish I had been in San Jose in 1986 for
the street entertainment competition.
I'm not sure that this competition needs to be the main public event
of the festival, but it does have a place. I also very much like the
idea of having members of the local media as the judges. We can only
benefit from having an outside viewpoint.
I
agree that comedy and entertainment skills will help the greatest
number of current members and attract the public's attention.
Education is an excellent method for attracting new members. A person
who has learned the basics is in a position to appreciate and begin to
understand the "complicated tricks and moves" more advanced
jugglers perform.
Let us try to entertain and educate the public and include these objectives in future festivals. Dusten
Galbraith |