Double Line Combination

Many patterns (historically mostly right handed) have been built on the above double line formation, such as the following fairly straightforward combination. This is a four­beat (8-count) sequence with only right hand passing. The two outside people (A and D in Fig. 2) do the same thing, and the two inside people (B and C) do the same thing.

 

On the first beat, A and D pass singles to C and B (respectively), who throw dropbacks to D and A (respectively). Thus this beat links everyone together in one group. The right handed dropbacks should be thrown over the left ear angling back to the right - the person behind is shifted a little to the right of the person in front, in order to be able to throw around on the outside.

 

On the second beat, A and C exchange doubles, as do Band D. This makes two independent pairs of passers for this beat.

 

On the third and fourth beats, things change noticeably. On these beats, Band C exchange two consecutive short right hand sin­gles. On beat three, A and D exchange one long triple (each triple goes past both Band C). On beat four, A and D pause, waiting for the incoming triple, which uses up two beats.

 

The sequence for A and D is thus: single, double, triple, pause. For Band C, it is: drop­back, double, single, single, where the last two are short singles between them.

 

Double Line Combination 3-Counts

Now although the above is predicated on right hand passes, there's no reason you couldn't stick in a 3-count here and there. Because the triple takes four counts and fits with the two inside right-hand singles so well, lets leave that part unchanged (for now).

 

So what we'll do is make each of the first two beats 3 counts long, but then leave the next two beats at 2 counts each. This leads to the following sequence for A and D: R single (and two selves), L double (and two selves), R triple (long pause, then one self. For B and C, we have: R dropback (and two selves), L double (and two selves), R single (one self), R single (one self).

 

If that's not enough for you, let's top this whole thing off by giving the left hands equal time by adding a sole right hand self after the above 10 counts (making this an 11-count pattern). After that extra right self (which everyone does at the same time), we start the pattern over left handed. Thus A and D next do mirror image of their above sequence: L single (and two selves), R double (and two selves), L triple (long pause, then one self. Then add another extra self and go back to the right-handed version. (Be sure to make that L triple very long - it has to clear both inner jugglers!). B and C of course also do a mirror image, meaning their two quick singles are left handed.

 

The sequence thus alternates the right hand version and the left hand version (ah, balance). This will give you a chance to practice some left hand dropbacks. The outside jugglers need to move a little bit side to side as they alternately throw around the right and left sides of the inner jugglers.

 

A slightly different way of doing this 11­count sequence is to have the two inside jugglers exchange their pair of singles in a 3­count, not a 2-count. This change of course doesn't affect the outside jugglers, so the inner jugglers can decide to do it on their own. Note that instead of adding a self after two right hand (2­count) passes, they need to eliminate the second self after the second (3-count) pass. This again makes that part of the sequence take 5 counts, and leaves them ready to start the pattern over with the opposite hand each time. (The inside pair could agree to do anything that takes 5 counts, even 5 passes of a 1-count, followed immediately by the long single that starts the pattern over. Note that 1-count passes are sometimes a little slow, so be sure to keep in sync with the outside jugglers.)

 

Twister Weave

This is a challenging but very fun variation of the regular Feed Weave (see the Summer 1991 Juggler's Workshop). We add a second feeder, on the other side of the weavers from the original feeder (see Fig. 3) and thus require the feedees to turn to face each feeder in turn. This pattern was created by the Madison Area Jugglers - I picked it up from one of their creative members, Melonhead.

 

The feedees walk through their three positions in the figure eight shown in Fig. 3, so that they alternately face one feeder (while on the ends) and then the other (while in the middle). Each feedee passes once in each new position encountered.

 

One feeder passes only to the middle, whereas the other feeder passes only to the ends, as you can see from Fig. 3. They each do this in a 4-count, while each feedee does a 6-count.

 

The feeders should always throw short and try to lead the feedees a little in the sideways direction that they need to go.

 

The feedees, who are always going forward when they pass, are continually turning here, but not necessarily always in the obvious direction. I find that when moving from the middle position to the outside, the turn is most quickly done by moving sideways and then backing into your new outside position after you catch the middle pass. As you do this, turn towards and then past the middle, then start forward on the outside as you pass to the other feeder from there. When going from the outside to the middle, however, it is probably better to continue going forward, especially so that you can see and avoid the other juggler who is going through the middle just ahead of you.

 

Big Twister Weave

You can extend the Twister Weave by adding two more weavers. This actually makes it a little easier, since the weavers pass less often while on the ends. The feeders still do a 4-count, but one of them sweeps back and forth, passing to feedee positions 1, 3, 5, 3, while the other passes alternately only to positions 2 and 4. If you combine the two feeders' passes, they are doing a normal back and forth feed. The feeders again should throw short and lead the feedees toward their new positions.

 

If you're a feedee, you always move toward the feeder that you're passing with, then catch the incoming pass and turn into the next po­sition to face the other feeder. This means that from positions 1,3 and 5 you'll move toward one feeder and from 2 and 4 you'll head toward the other. Fig. 4 shows the route taken by all the feedees.  

 

 Each feedee passes once at each position encountered, before moving on to the next one. When you're moving to or from an end position, you have a long time before you pass (14 counts), while the feed sweeps to the other end and back. This means that you can take your time getting there and don't need to use the backing-up move recommended above in the Twister Weave. But while you're in the middle, you pass relatively often (a 6­count, as in the 3-weaver version above). The count sequence is actually 14-6-6-14, and then you start over, having reached the other end position.

 

(You can do this pattern without the second feeder, with the feedees going forward and back instead of turning to face different feeders - they always face the one remaining feeder. Their passing frequency is the same, since the lone feeder now does a 2-count instead of a 4-count.)