Page 35                                     Fall 1991

Burke's Barrage,

 

Although Burke's Barrage (named after its inventor, Ken Burke) derives from the Cross­Arm Tennis pattern, it's about ten times more active, and you might have trouble spotting the family resemblance. Both arms are constantly in motion, crossing the body, throwing, catching and carrying, like windmills flailing in a storm. But, surprisingly, Burke's Barrage simply adds flourishes - elaborate, wheel-like carries  to the Cross-Arm Tennis pattern, executed, one on each side, by the arm that is "idle." The resulting "Barrage" is no misnomer - when you see the trick performed, those wheeling carries really come atcha! No question that in Burke's Barrage we have, as my friend Noah put it, "One of the major 3-ball moves."

 

Start with two balls in the right hand, one in the left.

 

.(Figure 26) RH tosses 1 straight up about shoulder height at the right side of the juggle space. (NOTE: This is a starting move only. Henceforth only the LH wiIl throw and catch 1, just as only RH will throw and catch 3.)

 

(Figure 27). LH "tennises" 2 in a short arc over to the right. (2 wiIl tennis back and forth throughout.) Then LH claw-catches 1 and carries it down and around through more than a full counterclockwise circle on the right side of the body. The "wheel" it describes should point more or less forward like the right wheel on a car. (This carry will terminate with the LH throw to be described in Step 5.) While this is happening, RH will make the two consecutive throws described next.

 

(Figure 28). RH tosses 3 straight up about shoulder height, at the left side of the juggle space and under the left arm as that arm wheels through the back part of its counterclockwise carry. Then RH catches 2 at the right.

 

(Figure 29). RH tennises 2 in a short arc over to the left. Then RH cIaw-catches 3 and carries it down and around through more than a full clockwise ''wheel'' on the left side of the body. (The carry will end with a repeat of the RH throw in Step 3, but only after LH has made its two consecutive throws described next.)

 

(Figure 30).  LH tosses 1 straight up about shoulder height, at the right side of the juggle space and under the right arm as that arm wheels through the back part of its clockwise circular carry. LH then catches 2 at the left.

 

The left hand throws again (an exact repeat of Step 2), and from this point on the juggle continues with each hand making two con­secutive throws while the other is busy making

its long ''wheel'' carry.                   *

 

If you have any comments or suggestions for Juggler's Workshop, write to: Juggler's Workshop, Palo Alto, CA  or call Martin Frost.

 

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