Page 23 Fall 1995
Rochais, 21, has a lot of practice with batons. She began majorette twirling at age five, then learned three object juggling at age eight. She first encountered other jugglers at a convention when she was 13, and by that time had spent three years working her way up from four to six batons. She competed in the Festival de Demain in Paris at 1989, finished high school and began applying herself more seriously to her juggling. No one else in her family, including three older brothers, ever cared to learn even a three-object cascade, but supported her in her pursuit.
Despite
her long history with juggling, festivals are somewhat of a novelty
with Rochais. She has never attended a European convention, and this
was her first-ever major festival. She chose to come to Las Vegas to
learn more about juggling and to see America. She arrived a couple of
days early in Las Vegas to see the sights. Her reaction? "lcroyable!"
She
was understandably pleased with her achievement and the $1,000 first
prize. "Every artist has doubts about their work, and this
reassures me in my choices," she said. She also won the Cascade
Juggling Club's "Woman of the Year" award later in the week.
She's hoping to make a career of juggling, beginning in circuses or
cabarets.
With
the 1995 lJA title secured, Rochais let audiences see another side of
her personality in the Cascade of Stars Public Show Thursday evening,
when she played a comic rag doll who manipulated batons with no less
skill, but a lot less dignity, than her earlier character.
Second
place in the Individual Championships went to Jay Gilligan, last
year's Juniors winner, who presented a highly technical act with clubs
and rings performed by an emotionless character that Jay created by
contemplating the idea of gum chewing. "The idea of chewing gum
was a costume choice," he said, "because it's one of the
things you're absolutely not supposed to do on stage. It's a bold
choice and a good format for showing tricks, because the character
doesn't care about what he's doing. This character doesn't care if he
drops, so the audience doesn't either."
Gilligan
called special attention to his gum by balancing a club on his chin
while he chewed, and showed other technical skills by pirouetting from
a five club cascade with all five thrown high.
The
bronze medalist was Jochen Schell, a professional performer from
Germany who was stylishly dressed, intense and |
The Big Toss Up (Bill Giduz photo) |
What it looks like inside the Big Toss Up (Louise Gauerke photo) |