* Ritt Rittenhouse spent the Christmas holidays in the Amazon rain forest, and used juggling as his entree to interaction with the local populace. He reported, "One day, while walking past an informal village soccer game, I rather ineptly kicked the ball when it came my way. This brought a laugh from the players at the uncoordinated old man. To redeem myself I started to juggle, throwing every complicated pattern I could. I was vindicated! The game came to a halt and they all gathered round to

watch: Ritenhouse traded the 20 tennis balls he took along for souvenirs like bas­kets, wood carvings, bracelets and neck­laces of piranha teeth.

 

* The Flying Karamazov Brothers biennial residency at Seattle's A Contemporary Theatre included productions of their new piece, "Club Sandwich," and revived their controversial theatrical production of "Le Petomane." Club Sandwich, which ran at ACT in January, provided fans with a typical mélange of puns, action and juggling in a parody of Hollywood detective movies. Le Petomane, which ran in February, had not been performed by the troupe since its 1992 unveiling at the La Jolla Playhouse near San Diego. It is a multimedia production about a tum-of-the-century vaudevillian, Joseph Pujol, whose extraordinary capacity to break wind on command and on key enthralled Parisian music hall audiences.

 

* The Christmas season represented the rebirth of California's Pickle Family Circus. The 19-year-old organization was forced to declare bankruptcy last summer, but re-emerged as The New Pickle Circus under the ownership of Tandy Beal and her non-profit Friends of Olympia Station organization. The show mixes circus arts with a story line, and stars Jeff Raz; and Diane Wasnak. There's plenty of juggling, acrobatics, aerial ballet and hoop diving.

 

* Four members of The Quad Cities Juggling Club - Doug DeWolf, Dusty Galbraith, Rob Galbraith and Bob Graham - performed as part of the halftime entertainment for the Harlem Globetrotters in January at the new Quad Cities Civic Center, "The Mark," in Moline, Ill.

 

* Benedictine College freshman Darren Samson and his juggling act won first place in the comedy division of the "B.C. Star Search" Talent Show last November. Samson reports, "My short bowling ball and three torch routines not only received a generous round of applause, but has sparked an interest in juggling on campus. Therefore, I'm now working on starting a club here..."

 

* Summit Kidnastics Inc., a gymnastics club in Maple Valley, Wash., has formed a youth circus school and hopes to be on the road by July with a traveling circus known as the Cascade Youth Circus. Young peo­ple age 5-18 from the Puget Sound area are encouraged to attend to learn circus skills, and anyone with extra equipment (unicycles, teeter-boards, mats, juggling props, etc.) is encouraged it donate it to this non­profit, tax-exempt organization. Contact Chuck Johnson; Cascade Youth Circus; Maple Valley WA.

 

* Notes on circus jugglers from other sources... Dan Carey juggled torches atop four rola-bolas with the Yankee Doodle Circus... The Binders and Justino Zoppe

with the Hubler Super Circus... Shane Hansen with the Mark Charles Holiday Revue... Dieter Galambos and Armando Cristiani with Moslah Temple Shrine Circus in Fort Worth... Russian juggler Yuri Kar:z; performed for the 28th annua1 Showfolks Circus in Sarasota... The Oscars juggle with the Wonderland Circus... Pat Davison juggling on a rola-bola balanced on a bowling ball in Santa's Christmas Show in Cincinnati... The Torres family as The Coopers in the M&M International Circus... The Zacharys in the Family Holiday Spectacular...

 

And in Europe... Valentin Tschemov did a routine concluding with seven large soccer balls with the Moscow State Circus in Holland, while Popov juggled in the same show on a slack wire... The Nikol Family with Chipperfield's Circus... Dick Franco juggled chainsaws for a British TV special called "Daredevils."... The Czech Faltiny Family with Billy Smart's Quality Big Top Show... A. Chesnaa, I. Vlasenko and S. Gurieva juggling on skates with the Great Russian Circus on Ice... Paul Morocco with Circus

Roncalli... Frit:z; Brehm and Las Piranhas are entertaining at the Casino de Monte Carlo... Maria and Yuri Bankine include "balloons of all sizes" in their performance with Cirque Gruss in France...

 

* Those interested in entering the 1994 Oranjeboom Straat Festival in Rotterdam, Holland, need to apply by April 30. For information, call Lee Hayes or Appi Stammeshaus at 31/20­623-9487 or FAX 31/20-620-3570. The competition, which carries a 2,000 franc first prize and other cash prizes, will be held August 19-21.

* Darn, Good and Funny jugglers Kevin Holman, Cindy Marvell and Paul Phariss performed at the Provider Medical Renaissance Festival in Tulsa, Okla. The Razzmatazz Tulsa Jugglers, Rusty Johnson, lli Mitchell and Kim Rickert, also performed at the event's madrigal dinner. Phariss and Marvell later visited former Juggler's Bulletin editor Roger Montandon at his "Barren Acres" spread in nearby Bixby, where they talked juggling, ate pecan pie and picked pecans.

 

* US Air Force Lt. Co!. Myke Gable is an amateur juggler, magician and comedian, and may be the first person to juggle at supersonic speed. He recently cascaded three balls while flying at Mach 1.5 in an F-lll over Nevada. (Sorry, no pictures. Cameras were prohibited in fighter cockpits in 1989!) He has also performed shows for a variety of interesting audi­ences, including the USAF Air Command and Staff College in Montgomery, Ala., and a group of Russian Air Force officers in Moscow during a first-ever Air Force exchange visit with Russia. Most recently, he's been entertaining at numerous children's parties and schools during his assignment on Guam.