Why I Will Be In New Haven Next Year

 by Bela Desai

 

Late Friday afternoon in early fall, and all is quiet in a giant glass cage on the Yale University fields. Bent rays of the sun filter down through the transparent ceiling more than 70 feet overhead. The first sound is a squeaky scrape of shoe soles against the astra­rubber floor. Greg Kennedy and Jay Gilligan help move tables around to. set up a registration center. There is a feeling of uncertain anticipation, a mingling of excitement and "what happens next?" It's 4:30 in Coxe Cage, the indoor track stadium where, in a half-hour, Yale will host its first juggling convention.

 

From September 20-22, New Haven welcomed jugglers from the Northeast and beyond to a weekend of flinging and revelry. The Yale Anti-Gravity Society and

Hamden's Suspended Animation Juggling Club co-sponsored the event. Festivities were directed by Fran Favorini, a multi-medalist at IJA numbers competitions, who

founded the Anti-Gravity Society as an undergraduate in 1987. Favorini had been contemplating a convention for a long time, and the final result proved a tremendous success.

 

The festival involved two days of open juggling, workshops, games and a public show on Saturday night. Friday evening began slowly. People trickled in a few at a time, and there was no stereo system for the first couple of hours. The doors opened at 5 p.m., and the initial arrivals were primarily local jugglers. The stadium remained fairly quiet, with the exception of flying objects cutting the air. Registration was free, and no one knew how many people to expect.

 

However, by the time the New York City crew appeared, a small crowd had gathered, the music started, and something was beginning to come together. The night consisted of new acquaintances, old friends, and open juggling. A little after 11 p.m., the local weatherman appeared to do his segment from the convention, gathering the 80 or so jugglers around him for a spot on the news.

 

On Saturday morning the track opened at 10 a.m. and, suddenly, there was a convention! By noon, about 200 people were spread out across the astro­rubber, whips cracking, music pumping and toys flying. The day passed quickly amidst five ball workshops offered by Boppo, photographers from Sports Illustrated magazine, and the traditional outdoor group fling. The people wandering through were of all ages and all talents - from a ten-year-old in a bowler tossing pins on a unicycle to a woman of 60 just learning a cascade.

 

As the evening set in, people left the stadium for downtown New Haven to for dinner and the public show. As 7 p.m. drew close, people piled into the courtyard of Yale's Sheffield-Sterling-Strathcona hall, where free juggling lessons were offered by members of the Anti-Gravity Society. The doors were finally opened, and the 400 seat auditorium quickly filled to capacity. People lined the aisles as the night offered some of the best juggling talent in the world. Performances were given by Greg Kennedy, Jay Gilligan, Airborne Jugglers (Joe Murray and Susan Kirby), Neil Stammer, Doctor Stardust (Gil Pontius), and Guennadi Tregroub, all of whom thrilled and amused. Charlie Peachock stole the show with his technical wizardry and cruise-boat smile.